Library

Search Tips:

• Be sure to try another search service if you don't find what you want using Google.
• Google and AllTheWeb are two of the biggest search engines. Both claim to search gazillions of sites.
• Evaluate the information you find on the Web.
• Some search engines look for your words as a phrase, but some will return results that may match only one of your search words. Most search engines recommend enclosing phrases in " " to force the search for a phrase rather than each word.
• With some search engines typing a +[no space] immediately before a word or phrase requires the term(s) to be present in documents and may return more relevant results
• With some search engines typing a - [no space] immediately before a word or phrase excludes documents containing the term(s)
• Search engines provide many ways to limit your search. Look for "advanced search" or "power search" at most search engines to find out what they can do. You can limit searches to pictures, a specific language, or non-profit organizations, for example.

Actual human beings look at web sites, assign them to subject categories, and sometimes write reviews.

Librarians' Internet Index

Open Directory

Search Tips:

• With these subject directories you'll be searching through categories--subject headings similar to those found in a library catalog--with links to specific web sites about those subjects.
• The Librarians' Index to the Internet is a searchable, annotated subject directory of thousands of Internet resources selected and evaluated by librarians. It's really good!

# 3 HOW ABOUT A SPECIALIZED SEARCH?

Get small: try searching an index on one subject. Get big: try sending your search to many search engines at once.

• Looking for a magazine article? Search a library database subscription, like EBSCOHost. Looking for a book? Search a book database, like Amazon.
• If you want to learn a lot about search engines, how they work, when they change, how they are different, and more, take a look at the amazing Search Engine Watch.
• Subscribe to the free weekly update of the Scout Report. It provides a way to stay informed of valuable resources on the Internet and is assembled and annotated by a team of professional librarians and subject matter experts.
• Subscribe to the free "Librarians' Index to the Internet New This Week" mailing list and receive a bundle of useful sites, nicely annotated, once a week. And don't forget The ResearchBuzz Newsletter for another great weekly update on useful sites. You'll be completely overwhelmed in no time!