What are search engines?

Unless you know the exact URL (Uniform Resource Locator-the Web page's address) of the page that you want, you will need the help of a search engine. Search Engines are computer programs which go out on the Web and index all of the pages they can find. A Web surfer can then go to the search engine and enter keywords in and get a list of the pages that contain those keywords. Some of the most popular search engines include Webcrawler, Alta Vista, Lycos, Yahoo!.

Since search engines go out and search the Web independently, they don't always find the same pages. So, pages that are indexed in Yahoo!, may not have been found by Alta Vista. Also new pages pop up each day, while other pages disappear. Given some time, search results of one day may drastically change.

What are Meta Search Engines?

A meta search engine will search several other search engines at once. They are usually much slower than a regular search engine. Search Strategies

1. Basic vs. Advanced Searching There are search engines out there like Alta Vista that have a simple search and an advanced search. An engines "advanced" search will usually allow using more advanced Boolean Search Logic. For instance, it may allow you to use boolean operators like "near." It may also allow you to rank the search results by keyword.

2. Search Newsgroup When looking for information, search engines like Deja News and reference.com will search newsgroups.

3. Creation Date Many search engines will allow you to focus your search by the age of the document. This can help you narrow down your search. You may have already visited the "old reliables" and want to search for new sites out there.

4. Using Different Engines or a Meta Search Because search engines don't always search the same "parts" of the Web. You should be able to find pages on one engine that another one hasn't found. You don't have to try every search engine to make sure you've found everything. But a good rule would be to try at least two.