Search engines are most helpful when you are looking for a specific site or searching for pages on a narrow topic.  Also, the more words you include as keywords, such as in a phrase, the more focused your search and results should be.

Search engines are a much more direct way to search for information on the web than to search in subject directories, and is often much quicker.  To use a search engine, simply click in the blank search field and type in the keyword or words that represent(s) your topic or interest.  Avoid common words: choose the words that make this topic unique.  That is one way to narrow your results.
 

Now, A Word about the Word NARROW... When on the Internet, the word narrow takes on new meaning.  In the world of the web, you have made big progress in narrowing your search when you have whittled 4,235,861 sites down to 35,499.  Wow!  But do you really want to look at 35,498 more sites than you have to?  Narrow, narrow, narrow, any way you can.  Add more keywords, use phrases lumped within quotation marks, and when all else fails, read the HELP screens.  Even when you find your search produces thousands more pages than you think you need, often the first few will give you the information you need.  Follow the links to those first few pages before you try the search again.

Yahoo and AltaVista are two examples of commercial portal sites, and there are many, many such sites.  You will find that most search sites such as these contain both subject directories and search engines, but each search site may have special functions that the others may not have.

For more information on specific search engines, see the Internet Public Library's information on Web Searching.

Search Hints

Point and click on the SEARCH button on the Netscape toolbar or the Internet Explorer toolbar.  This button serves as a quick link to search sites on the Web.

Don't try to know about all the search sites.  Really LEARN to use just two or three good search engines.  Read the help screens and don't be afraid to try the site's advanced searching techniques.

Search first for descriptive, specific keywords. When using multiple keywords that need to appear together in a phrase, such as "single working mothers", use quotation marks around the keywords.

Be aware that no index to the web in any subject directory or search engine is complete.  The web is too huge and changes too quickly for any human or automated mechanism to keep up with its ever-growing mass.  Use multiple search engines and pool the results.  Don't ever give up after only one search-vary the keywords, narrow, or try a different search engine.

Finally remember that commercial portal sites are designed for general users of the Internet, not necessarily students.  Having a site listed at a commercial portal site does not guarantee quality at those sites. For information about evaluating Web sites, read on!