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Finding the Information You Need — Research Tips for Your Family, Business, or Personal Pursuits

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THE INTERNET

Some people love the Internet because it's easy to type in a few keywords and find lots of information. Others feel overwhelmed with all the results, and most folks wonder who to trust and how to determine what's true when they find two Web sites making contradictory statements — both claiming to be the truth. Navigating the Internet can be a challenge, but understanding some basic search techniques and knowing how to evaluate the content you find will make your task easier.

Search Engines and Directories

If you have no idea where to find the information you want among the millions of Web sites on the Internet, you'll want to begin at a search engine or directory. A search directory, such as Yahoo!®, is organized by humans and will usually give fewer, more relevant results. A search engine, such as Alta Vista™, uses technology to look for the keywords you enter and returns many more results, probably thousands of pages that include your search terms. Google™ is a hybrid — combining human organization and technology. Check the Resources at the end of this report for links to some search engines and directories.

Search Tips

• Read the advanced search features of the various search engines; different search engines are better for different purposes. Experiment to decide which is most appropriate for what you're doing.

• Choose your keywords carefully. Use the advanced search features of the search engine and be as specific as possible in your search without including unimportant words such as "the," "an", or "a." Then use less restrictive criteria if you come up empty-handed. This is usually easier than winnowing down thousands of unrelated results.

• Search several times, trying several combinations of keywords for best results.

• Use special search features, such as Google's government and military site searches and Yahoo!'s shopping, travel, and image searches.

•Use the singular versions of nouns and the present tenses of verbs for the best results.

Your Information Center™ Reports

Just like the one you're reading, all of Your Information Center's reports (found on our Web site at http://www.yourinformationcenter.com) answer a specific question and take less than half an hour to read. Each article — the result of hundreds of hours of researching, writing, and editing — presents a balanced overview of a topic and lists additional resources (books and Web sites) to make any further research easier for you.

Reports are available online at no cost to you.

Reference Sites

Many online resource sites are filled with valuable information or links to other sites. Several are listed in the Resources section at the end of this document. Some of these are official government sites; others are sponsored by universities; others are individually maintained. You can add one Web site to your favorites folder or bookmarks and have access to dozens or even hundreds of other excellent resources.

The Internet changes daily, and a site has no control over another site that it links to. A site may change its content or shut down without warning. However, if you get an error message, try several times — sometimes it's just experiencing a temporary downtime.

Online Libraries/Ask-a-Librarian

We've already mentioned that many libraries make their catalogs available online and offer services to their patrons through the Internet. Some libraries, such as the Internet Public Library, exist solely on the Internet and have no physical location.

Just as you can get help from a reference librarian in person at your local public library, you can get help from a reference librarian online by e-mail. The Internet Public Library, Ask a Librarian UK, and the US Library of Congress answer questions for the general public, usually in two to five days. However, you should review the extensive lists of frequently asked questions before submitting a special request; your question may have already been answered.

Many public and academic libraries offer Ask-a-Librarian research assistance online, but patrons may have to enter their library card number or other code to access the service.

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