SEARCHING
You have a choice of using search engines or subject directories when searching the Internet for information. 

NEED HELP?
Subject directories work best when you have a general term. Subject directories contain broad categories you can "drill down" to narrow your search.  Think Yellow Pages.   For a directory with consistenly  high quality sites, begin with Librarians' Index to the Internet. The sites within this directory are reviewed, selected and annotated by editors, subject specialists and librarians.  About.com organizes thousands of topics for efficient searching and quick answers. For specific subject guides and reference sources, look in iTools and The Virtual Library. The Internet Public Library allows you to do a quick search or cluster the results in a map view.

Search engines are larger, more current and best to use when you have a specific, narrow key word or term. Start with google, one of the largest and most powerful search engines. Googlescholar helps you identify the most relevant research from academic publishers and educational institutions. Clusty.com groups similar results together into clusters. Clusters help you see your search results by topic so you can zero in on exactly what you’re looking for
 
 

*See how search engines and subject directories stack up. Compare them

Go to the advanced search in AltaVista feature to use Boolean operators (AND OR NOT)

NEED MORE HELP?
Check out Power Search Tips for more efficient, effective searching. To keep up-to-date on search engines and to learn more about them look at this resource: Spider's Apprentice

EVALUATING WEB SITES

It is important to evaluate Web sites because unlike books and magazines there is no editor or publisher that checks for accuracy and quality. When you use the information from a Web site it is your responsibility to make sure it is reliable. We have developed two short forms to help guide you: Teacher Evaluation Form and Student Evaluation Form