Searching the Internet

 

 

No matter what you are using for a browser, you can access any one of the many popular search engines.  This document can be used to guide you through the process using your favorite browser.  Any graphic examples shown here will be shown using the Netscape browser.

 

The search engine links provided by Access Unlimited Internet Service is a good place to start until you become more comfortable with moving around on the Internet.

 

Your browser screen will then begin to load the search engine page requested.  Which search engine you choose will depend on how you want to search.

 

Take a few minutes to look over each search engine’s suggestions on improving your search—you will be rewarded with better results.  Most sites allow you to use plus (+) and minus (-) signs or the words AND, OR, NOT and parentheses (called Boolean operators) to narrow the focus.  If, for instance, you want to search for sites that pertain to both printing and press, type in +printing + press or printing AND press (if the engine understands Boolean) to make sure that the responses must include BOTH terms.

 

General search engines (e.g., HotBot and AltaVista) search by keywords or phrases that you input or they employ both keywords and their underlying concepts (e.g., Excite).  Directories (e.g., Yahoo) categorize and index Web content.  When you query a directory, it does not search the entire Web, just sites that have been classified and indexed by that directory.  Multiple search engines (e.g., All-In-One, WebCrawler) allow you to access many different engines on one page.  Specialty engines target a particular subject matter or area on the Internet.  If you are interested in learning more about how engines work, visit The Spider’s Apprentice at www.monash.com/spidap.html.

General search engines

 

Because the process used to gather site content varies, you won’t get the same number of responses from two different sources.  Excite, a general concept-based search engine, will find documents containing the exact words you input, but goes one step further to incorporate sites with ideas or concepts that come close.  This added capability is the reason Excite usually turns up the most responses or hits.  While “more” is not necessarily better, the responses are each given a relevance ranking.  Extra features include viewing by topic or URL and generating a list of words to help you narrow the focus.  Excite lets users jump into the deep end of the pool without drowning in thousands of useless responses.

 

Popular general sites include HotBot and Infoseek with useful features—a “find similar sites” option, relevance ratings and dated URL pages.  While AltaVista does not have “find similar sites” or ratings, it is a powerful, well-organized searching tool with a language translation feature.  Each of these “big four” should be bookmarked for regular visits.

Directories

 

Some search engines have added directory capabilities.  Often called categories, channels or guides, they can be found next to the proliferating news, weather and sports sections on some pages.  Yahoo, the granddaddy of searching, is an excellent example of a directory.  It gives you access to the bigger picture.  Yahoo will apply your current query to other search sites if you need additional information.

Multiple Search Engines

 

At the All-In-One Search Page you can access over 400 Internet engines, databases, indexes and dictionaries.  It won’t do a global search from a single inquiry; rather, it allows you to choose specific engines.  Occasionally you have to re-enter the initial inquiry, but most sites automatically retrieve the keywords.  You can choose simple or advanced search.  Visit their “Other Interesting Searches/Services” page to put you in touch with some unique specialty engines.

 

The Beaucoup Web page is jam-packed with over 1,000 links to general, multiple and specialty search engines.  The real treasure here is the list of smaller engines divided by category.  Unlike the previous site, you can’t directly execute any searches, but it has a clean, streamlined approach—a huge relief after wading through pages heavily laden with animated ads. 

 

Other multiple engines worth visiting include the following.

 

·         Starting Point—impressive results, simple interface, directory features.

·         Metasearch—Automatically places your inquiry into seven general engines ready for you to refine and process.

·         Snap—searches for URLs, e-mail addresses and white page listings.  It even generates maps and directions.  But the general search interface is only fair, lacking relevance rating and posting dates.

·         WebCrawler—includes a directory, simple or extended URL search responses, relevance ratings and “similar page” options, but lacks dates.

Specialty Search Engines

 

Dejanews lets you take a peek through more than 50,000 discussion newsgroup postings.  It can search by author, forum and subject—limiting the search by date.  If a colleague is raving about a forum discussion he read on estimating software, Dejanews can quickly zero in on the information you need, saving the time and effort of scrolling through hundreds of posts. 

 

Looking to make quick work of a simple query?  Try the Electric Monk site.  All you have to do is type in a question such as “Where can I buy soy printing ink,” and out come Web sites.  The number and quality of responses will surprise you.

 

How to Use Search Engines

 

All of the search engines have some popular selections already listed for you. 


 


Below these selections are other pre-made selections on a variety of topics.  They provide links to some of the most popular web pages on the subjects shown.

 

When you make one of these cagetory selections, your browser will load another web page that will contain further links to choose from.  These links will be a further breakdown of the choice selected.  You can continue in this manner until you locate what you are interested in.

 

Another example is the AltaVista search page.  This page is found at www.altavista.com, and has a feature that allows you to gradually break your search down by category.

 

Most of the search engine pages are now making use of this category search.  Shown below is an example of how this type of search works, using AltaVista search engine as an example, and using a recipe search to demonstrate how this works.

 

When you first load the AltaVista search engine main page, you will see a screen similar to the one shown below.  Keep in mind that these pages are constantly changing, so what you see here may look a little different in the future.

 


 

 


 

 


Within "Recipes" we will select "Recipes A-Z", then since we're looking for Cajun cooking, we'll click on the selection "Recipes C" to see of Cajun is among these selections.

 


 

 


 

 

 

There are other selections on this page that possibly will take you directly to the actual recipes.  This page is scrollable to allow you to see all of the possible selections.
 

 

 

 


 


You can select the site from this list to go back to.  For example, if you want to start a new search, you can go directly back to the search engine page you started with instead of clicking the “Back” button repeatedly until you are at that page.

 

 

When you are on a site, you can quickly find other related sites by selecting the button to the right of the location address area that is titled “What’s Related”.  This will open a list of sites that Netscape has determined are similar, or related to the topic of the page you are currently viewing.

 

 

 

You can also initiate a search from any website by choosing the “Search” button on the button bar at the top of your screen. 

 

This will result in a list of website names from which to choose from.  Each name in the list will have a brief description, as well as a hyperlink that when clicked will take you directly to that web page.

 

Searching in this manner can sometimes create rather lengthy lists of results, depending on which search engine you choose for your search.  And some search engines, such as “Excite”, will give you the option of narrowing your search even further once the initial search results are displayed.

 

The best way to learn about searching is to do it.  Pick a topic that you’d like to know more about, enter that in the search field, and then see what happens.  Also, try several different search engines.  In this way you can decide for yourself which search engine you prefer.  If you decide on a favorite, it might be a good idea to bookmark it so that you can go back to it easier and quicker the next time you want to initiate a search.

 

When you want to search for people, either for an Email address, a phone number, or a mailing address, there are several sites that you can use.  Most of them work in the same manner, so we will use just one in this document.

 

As seen earlier, there are people finder search choices available on the Yahoo.com web page.  You can choose one of these, or use one of the people finder search choices offered by most search engines.

 

A recent web article on ZDNet listed their 5 top people finders.  Although we do not particularly endorse any one over another, they are listed here for your information.

 

AnyWho: This sleek little site powered by AT&T Labs searches for home and biz phones, 1-800 numbers, email addresses, Web sites and has a reverse telephone search.  http://www.anywho.com/

 

InfoSpace: Along with a top-notch people search, InfoSpace also features a lot of handy links to other Web necessities such as communities, city guides, government sites and more.  http://www.infospace.com/

 

WhoWhere: A good little phone, email and site finder. Plus it also has a few cool specialty searches, including a genealogy search, public records search and celebrity search.  http://www.whowhere.lycos.com

 

Yahoo People Search: One of the best email searches available. It's advanced option lets you make searches based on domain name, organization tag or even old email addresses.  http://people.yahoo.com/

 

SwtichBoard: Search for people, businesses, Web sites, maps and more. With the cool What's Nearby feature, you plug in address and WhoWhere returns all the restaurants, stores, parks, et cetera in the area.  http://www.switchboard.com/

 

Choose your people search engine based upon what information you want to find, and what information you have on the person you are seeking.  We will demonstrate one of the people searches here.  Although there are quite a few similarities, each people search engine has its own specialties, and therefore its own requirements, and the search pages will look quite a bit different.

 

The Yahoo People Search provides an opportunity to locate a person through an Email search or a Telephone search.  Each search is conducted independent of the other.

 

At both the top and the bottom of the list you will see links titled “First”, “Prev”, “Next” and “Last”.  These links will allow you to move to other pages in the search results. 

 

When you perform a Telephone Search, the process will be the same, but the results will look different.

 

The Switchboard search engine also gives you the opportunity to find email, maps, and what’s nearby the person you are seeking, and also allows you to update your own listing if you wish.  When you click on the person’s name in the results list another page will load that give you many choices to browse, including a map that will pinpoint the neighborhood of the person selected.

 

 

A Few Popular Search Engines

 

All-In-One Search Page                        http://www.allonesearch.com

 

AltaVista                                  http://www.altavista.com/

 

AOL NetFind                            http://www.aol.com/netfind/

 

Beaucoup                                 http://www.beaucoup.com/

 

Electric Library                         http://www.elibrary.com/

 

Electric Monk                           http://www.electricmonk.com/

 

Excite                                       http://www.excite.com/

 

GoTo.com                                 http://www.goto.com/

 

Hotbot                                      http://www.hotbot.com/

 

InfoSeek                                   http://www.infoseek.com

 

LookSmart                                http://www.looksmart.com/

 

Lycos                                       http://www.lycos.com/

 

MetaCrawler                            http://www.metacrawler.com/

 

MetaSearch                              http://www.metasearch.com/

 

Northern Light                          http://www.northernlight.com/

 

Snap                                         http://www.snap.com/

 

Starting Point                            http://www.stpt.com/

 

WebCrawler                             http://www.webcrawler.com/

 

 

A Few Popular People & Business Search Engines

 

Big Book                                              http://www.bigbook.com/

 

Bigfoot                                                 http://www.bigfoot.com/

 

Excite Reference People Finder             http://www.excite.com/reference/people_finder/

 

Excite Yellow Pages                             http://yellowpages.zip2.com

 

GTE SuperPages                                   http://www.superpages.gte.net/

 

Snap.com                                              http://www.snap.com/                choose appropriate selection

 

Switchboard                                          http://www.switchboard.com/

 

US West Dex Yellow Pages                  http://uswestdex.com

 

WhoWhere                                           http://www.whowhere.lycos.com/

 

YellowPages AtHand                            http://www.athand.com/

 

 

Bookmarks

 

Once you have located a search engine or people search web page that you like, instead of trying to remember the web address (URL) or writing it down, you can bookmark the page and let Netscape remember it for you.

 


Text Box: While you are viewing the page you want to bookmark, click on the button to the left of the Location Bar that is titled “Bookmarks”.Bookmarks allow you to quickly return to a web page that you want to visit again without having to remember how you got there in the first place.  As soon as you decide you want to return to the page, you can quickly bookmark the site to make your return to that page quick and easy.


Text Box: From the list that drops down, select “Add Bookmark”. This will save the URL of the page you are currently viewing in the list of bookmarks under the category titled “My Stuff” at the bottom of the list.

 


You can also place these bookmarks into any of the existing categories by selecting “File Bookmark” instead of “Add Bookmark”, then selecting the folder where you would like to store this website’s URL.  By doing this you can keep your bookmark list manageable.

 

One way to organize your bookmark file is to put all new bookmarks into one folder. Communicator allows you to do this automatically. Click Bookmarks, and then select Edit Bookmarks to open the Bookmarks file. Choose File, New Folder from the menu to create a new folder (name it something like New Bookmarks), then click OK. The new folder appears on the folder list. Highlight this and right-click, then select Set As New Bookmarks Folder from the Context menu. Now when you're at a site you want to bookmark, just select Bookmarks, Add Bookmark to add the site automatically to the New Bookmarks folder. (This only works when you select Bookmarks, Add Bookmark, not when you drag the URL from the Location box to Bookmarks.)  (Tip of the Day from Netscape Netcenter)

 

If you're like most Netscape Communicator users, your bookmark list tends to get pretty long, even if you organize everything neatly into folders. However, you may not need to see all these folders every time you use Communicator, so you can limit the folders the browser displays. To set the limit, open the bookmark file (select Bookmarks, Edit Bookmarks) and select the folder you want to display. Right-click, and then select Set As Bookmark Menu from the context menu. Only this menu appears the next time you open the bookmark list, and you can change the folder anytime you want. (Tip of the Day from Netscape Netcenter)

 

Your Personal Toolbar allows you to put certain bookmarked sites right on your toolbar. That's pretty cool, but the best part is that Communicator lets you make any of your bookmark folders the Personal Toolbar. You can switch them anytime you want. To do this, open your bookmark file (Bookmarks, Edit Bookmarks), and then highlight the folder you want to make the Personal Toolbar. Right-click it, then choose Set As Toolbar Folder from the Context menu. There's your new Personal Toolbar. (Tip of the Day from Netscape Netcenter)

Text Box: To use the bookmarks you have saved, click on the “Bookmarks” button again, located to the left of the Location Bar near the top of the browser window.


 

 

 




Text Box: Then select the bookmarked title of the site you wish to visit. If the site was saved in one of the folders, click on the folder and choose the site from that listing. Your browser will then load that web site in your browser window.

 

 


You can view information online from the Netscape Netcenter that you might find useful as well by clicking on the “What’s Related” button, then selecting “Learn About Smart Browsing…”

 

In addition we have included a listing of some of the search engines available on the Internet, including their web address (URL).  This list is by no means complete, but it does give you some options of search engine sites to check out.

 

The best way to become familiar with searching the Internet is to do it.  Try searching for a topic using the various search engines and viewing the results.  All you have to do to go to the web page of one of the results is to click on the hyper-linked title of the search result listed.  Using your “Back” button, you can quickly return to the search results page to try a different result.

 

A Few Tips Regarding Bookmarks and Using Netscape Communicator

 

These tips have been compiled from the Netscape Netcenter Tip of the Day, sent out every day to Netscape users that have subscribed to that service.  To subscribe yourself, go to http://home.netscape.com, find the selection titled In-Box Direct: Free E-Magazines and click on that link.  On the next page go to the category titled Web Building News and select More Computing and Internet Publications.  The publication that these are from it titled TipWorld, and is near the bottom of the page.  Follow the instruction for subscribing and you will start receiving these tips in your Email Inbox the next day.

 

BOOKMARK HELP

 

Want help with your bookmarks? Check out a helper application called Smart Bookmarks. It helps you manage and automatically update your Communicator bookmarks. To find out more, go to http://www.firstfloor.com or search for Smart Bookmarks at http://www.download.com

 

UNLISTED NUMBER

 

The Location (Go To) box has a drop-down list of the URLs you have recently visited. This makes it easy for you to go back to certain sites (if you forgot to bookmark one, for example). You may notice, however, that some sites don't appear on the list. This is because it only includes the URLs you actually entered in the Location box or opened with the File, Open Page command. If you open a page by clicking a link within another page, the URL doesn't make the list.

 

A NEW BOOKMARK PLACE

 

One way to organize your bookmark file is to put all new bookmarks into one folder. Communicator allows you to do this automatically. Click Bookmarks, and then select Edit Bookmarks to open the Bookmarks file. Choose File, New Folder from the menu to create a new folder (name it something like New Bookmarks), then click OK. The new folder appears on the folder list. Highlight this and right-click, then select Set As New Bookmarks Folder from the Context menu. Now when you're at a site you want to bookmark, just select Bookmarks, Add Bookmark to add the site automatically to the New Bookmarks folder. (This only works when you select Bookmarks, Add Bookmark, not when you drag the URL from the Location box to Bookmarks.)

 

KEEP THOSE BOOKMARKS PRIVATE

 

If you work in a shared computer environment--or if you just want to prevent snoopers from seeing your browsing habits--consider creating a private bookmark file. There are no fancy tricks here--just create a new bookmark file and name it something other than "bookmark.htm." Aim for an innocuous name such as "stuff," "things," or "there's nothing to look at here." To use your private file when you browse, select File, Open Page, then click Choose File and select the private bookmark file.

 

PERSONAL BEST

 

In addition to offering the familiar bookmarks pull-down menu, Communicator includes some other quick ways to access your favorite sites. One is the Personal Toolbar, which appears in the Communicator Display window. This toolbar has some canned links, such as the ones to the New & Cool and Lookup sites, but you can add your own buttons to it. To do this, drag the Proxy icon (it's just to the right of the Bookmarks icon) into the toolbar. The current site (the one specified in the Netsite box) becomes a button link on the Personal Toolbar. Click the button and you access the site.

 

GETTING MORE PERSONAL

 

The last tip told you about the Personal Toolbar. This is actually a part of the bookmark file, and allows you to edit, add, and delete items from the Bookmark window. To do any of this, click Bookmarks from the Communicator window, then select Communicator, Bookmarks, and Edit Bookmarks to open the Bookmarks-bookmark.htm window. You'll find the links for the Personal Toolbar in the Personal Toolbar Finder. To dump a link, select it and press Delete. You also might want to edit the link—for example, giving it a shorter, snappier name (when you create the link, the button title defaults to the site's full title, which can be pretty long). Highlight the link that you want to edit and select Edit, Bookmark Properties. Enter the new name in the Name field, and then click OK. Close the Bookmarks-bookmark.htm window, and the Personal Toolbar reflects your changes.

 

TOOLBAR ARRANGEMENTS

 

The last tip showed how to use different bookmark folders as your Personal Toolbar. Remember that you can arrange the Personal Toolbar however you want. Just grab any bookmark icon and drag it to a new location.

 

OTHER ITEMS ACCEPTED

 

In Communicator, the Personal Toolbar on the desktop (and the Personal Toolbar Folder in the Bookmarks file) is not just for Web site links. In addition to those familiar links, you can add button icons for newsgroups, mail folders, or Address Book entries. To do this, first open the window that contains the component you want to add (such as the Mail window). Select the item to add, such as the Inbox icon, then drag it into the Personal Toolbar. The item now appears in both the Personal Toolbar and the Bookmarks file in the Personal Toolbar Folder.

 

ONE FOLDER AT A TIME

 

If you're like most Netscape Communicator users, your bookmark list tends to get pretty long, even if you organize everything neatly into folders. However, you may not need to see all these folders every time you use Communicator, so you can limit the folders the browser displays. To set the limit, open the bookmark file (select Bookmarks, Edit Bookmarks) and select the folder you want to display.  Right-click, and then select Set As Bookmark Menu from the context menu. Only this menu appears the next time you open the bookmark list, and you can change the folder anytime you want.

 

GO ON A BOOKMARK HUNT

 

Most bookmark files get so large that you lose track of what they contain. To find a long-lost or misplaced bookmark, open the bookmark file (Ctrl-B) and press Ctrl-F to bring up the Find Bookmark box. Enter the word, phrase, or URL for which you want to search in the Find field, then select the search criteria. As you see, you can search the name, location, or description (you can choose any or all), and you can match the case or the whole word (you don't have to select either). Click OK, and Communicator highlights the first bookmark that matches your search or tells you that it found no file.

 

BOOKMARK COPY SERVICE

 

Sometimes you want to let someone else in on one of your cool bookmarks. If so, open your bookmarks file (Ctrl-B) and highlight the bookmark. Right-click, and then select Copy Link Location from the Context menu. Now open a new message in the Composition window and select Edit, Paste. The live link pastes into the message.

 

 

Learn About Smart Browsing

 

 

Smart Browsing

Netscape recognized that as the web has brown, it has become increasingly difficult to find the resources, sites, and information you want.  To break down this barrier, Netscape has introduced Smart Browsing, a group of new Communicator and Netcenter features that simplify Internet browsing and help you find the best information faster.

 

Smart Browsing is available in Communicator 4.06 or later, and Communicator 4.5; or through our new Netscape TuneUp for IE.  Smart Browsing features include:

 

Internet Keywords

The easiest way to get to a web site is Internet Keywords.  Instead of remembering long, complicated Internet addresses (URLs), just type the words or names you’re looking for into the location field of your browser, and you’ll be taken to a site for that product, company, or service!  For example, instead of remembering the URL http://www.ual.com/, simply type “United Airlines” into the location field and you’ll be taken to that address.  See About Internet Keywords to learn more and to try this great new feature.

 

What’s Related

Having trouble deciding where to go next?  What’s Related provides a dynamic list of web sites and services related to the site you’re currently viewing.  See About What’s Related for more details and to see this new navigation tool in action.

 

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