Internet

Main Contents Page

Before you start

STEP 1: STARTING out

STEP 2: FINDING

Searching techniques:

- Boolean Logic

- Truncation/wildcards

- Phrase searching

Information finding tools:

- OPAC

- Webbridge

- Databases (incl CD Roms)

- Internet

- Dewey (DDC)

Information sources:

- Dictionaries

- Encyclopaedias

- Atlases

- Almanacs & yearbooks

- Books

- Periodicals/Journals

- Newspapers

- Audio-visual

- Internet

What is it?

Screen icons

Resources

Search engines

Meta search engines

Subject directories

Subject gateways, portals

Web address

More information

Glossary

- Grey literature

- Broadcast media

- Conference proceedings

- Maps

- Government publications

- Standards

- Museums

- Archives

- Quiz

STEP 3: EVALUATE

STEP 4: Legal and ethical USE

STEP 5: COMMUNICATE

Search engines

What is a search engine?

Search Engines are the most usual avenue of exploration when seeking information on the Internet. These are vast systems which search for information usually by way of keywords.

The names of some of the most widely used search engines have become well known, such as Google, Yahoo, Alta Vista or Excite, etc.

How to get to a search engine

To get to a Search Engine you can either just click on the Search-button and get a list of search engines or type in the URL address as indicated below.

The following is an example of a few different Search Engines available on the Internet that you will see after you have clicked on the "Search"-button. When you click on one of the following links, it will take you to that search engine on the Internet.

http://www.google.com
http://www.altavista.com
http://www.yahoo.com

Two specifically South African search engines are:

http://www.ananzi.co.za
http://www.aardvark.co.za