How to Search the Web

Updated: 2023-08-10

By now most of you should be familiar with how to search the WWW. Still, all of us can still use help, every now and then, to make our searches better and more efficient. This page should help. At the bottom are some topics you might like to know more about.

• BASIC INFORMATION ON SEARCHING
  • Finding Information on the Internet--tutorial, basic, medium, links, graphics
    • Page contains everything a new user needs to get up to speed in using Web search engines. Tutorial covers: terminology, basics of search tools, search strategies, recommended search tools, and much more. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html
• SPECIALIZED INFORMATION ON THE WEB
  • Wired.com
    • Wired.com's news page contains news of interest to technically oriented users.
    • http://www.wired.com/
  • Technology
    • Links to the technology section on the on-line version of the New York Times.
    • http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/tech/
• CREATING YOUR OWN WEB PAGES
  • Web Page Design--index, adv., short, links, graphics
    • This page is for users who want to learn and explore the use of the Web as its own medium. Topics cover nearly all aspects of Web page design and include: typography, graphics and palettes, navigation, and much more. http://www.wpdfd.com/index.htm
• MISTAKES IN DESIGNING WEB PAGES
  • Top Ten Mistakes in Designing Web Pages--article, basic, long, few links
    • Article about mistakes commonly encountered in Web pages. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9605.html
• PRINT VS. WEB DESIGN
  • Differences in Print and Web Design--article, basic, long, links, graphics
    • Jakob Nielsen discusses the differences between print design and Web design. Print design, he states, usually makes for poor Web design. Web design is characterized by motion of hand on mouse and of user through cyberspace. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html
• METAPHORS IN WEB DESIGN
  • Web Design vs. GUI Design--article, basic, long, links
    • Jakob Nielsen discusses the differences between GUI and Web design. Unlike GUI design, Web design must deal with device diversity, surrender control to the user, and realize that individual Web pages are perceived not as pages but as part of the whole Web. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9705a.html
  • Telephone as Web Metaphor--article, basic, long, links
    • Jakob Nielsen discusses why telephony may be a better model of the Web than television, both are: narrowcast, 1:1 media, user initiated, and interactive. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9705b.html
• EXERCISES
  • Let's look up some stuff just for practice. Here are some things we can search for:
    • SAU's Magale Library
      • https://web.saumag.edu/library/
      • Look up the PsycINFO database
    • Magnolia, AR
      • https://www.magnolia-ar.com/ [under construction but you can pay your water bill!]
    • Elizabeth Loftus (famous memory researcher)
      • https://www.verywellmind.com/elizabeth-loftus-biography-2795496
    • epk49 YouTubes (creme brule flambe anyone? also lasagna in Paris, TX)
      • My YouTube channel has all kinds of weird videos, "Street Sweeper" is the most visited one
    • e-mail address of Laura King (the author of your textbook)
      • kingla@missouri.edu (careful, clicking on this link sends her an e-mail)