If you've spent enough time online to find this blog, you've probably heard of search engines, websites that let you search the World Wide Web to find what you're looking for. A myriad of search engines exist, with some of the most popular being Google, Yahoo, and Ask.com (previously AskJeeves). Windows Live Search, the successor to MSN, also seems to be gaining popularity.
There are lots more search engines, too, and all have their own "quirks." Google tends to work the best for me, but I'm sure there are useful sites I don't know about because Google doesn't have them in the index and therefore doesn't include those sites in search results. But all the main search engines can be searched the same way, following the same rules so if you know how to use one, you can use them all.
The first rule of online research is technically to find trustworthy sources, but frankly, that comes with practice. Things to look for include what's the host site, who's the author, when's the copyright date, when was it most recently updated and so forth.
But if you're trying to find the sites with information so you can evaluate them in the first place, be specific. Are you looking for how to open an Xbox? Then search for that. Type the whole phrase in if you like, though with practice you might learn that it works just as well or better if you type Xbox open "how to".
That brings to the second rule of thumb: play with quotation marks (""). Quotation marks in Internet searches signal exact phrases that you want to search for. Different people often phrase things differently, so you have to be willing to toy with your search. Try making some things exact phrases, then try the search again without. (For example, remove the quotation marks from the "how to".
The third tactic is easiest if you have a good vocabulary already or are good at skimming. It's rephrasing your search words. This can come from your head, from a thesaurus, or from noting other ways sites you've already found have mentioned the material. Like, in my example, you could try take off Xbox outer casting, though I'm not sure that would find more answers than the other attempt. Wikis like Wikipedia can be helpful in this, when all else fails (though I understand that studies have found Wikipedia every bit as accurate as your regular encyclopedia).
Notice that in all my examples, I have more than one word. Specifics are better. Don't just type in commas when you want to know the grammar rules for using commas. And I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm talking to a baby—this tip seriously doesn't occur to some people.
Does following these guidelines mean that you'll necessarily find every single thing you're looking for on the Internet? No. I've had at least one experience in article writing for neither I nor my boss could find enough information to write the article she wanted me to write, and it was on a topic that you'd think would be online.
Search engines have other features that can make research easier, but I think these basic ones I've covered will work for now. Does anyone else have a favorite search engine worth sharing?
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