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FAQ - What are Search Engines?

Questions:  What are Search Engines and How do I use them to find something on the Web????

Answer: You start your online search by using a Directory Listing or Search Engine.

Directory Services are ones at which a particular page of a Web Site is submitted for listing.

• These pages are then categorized by the Directory Service.
• Think of this type of listing service as the Green Index of the Yellow Pages section of
  your phone book.

Two of the larger Directory Listing Websites are:

• Yahoo
• LookSmart

Search Engines are spider-based, meaning that the host software sends out a scout to get information about the web site based on the web site's web address, or URL. These types of search tools can index a site simply by knowing the web site address, or URL, and possibly your email address. This makes them easily identifiable.

Some of the more popular Search Engines are:

• Snap
• AltaVista
• Excite
• Infoseek
• Webcrawler
• Hot Bot
• Lycos

Tips for Better Searching

Use Double Quotes Around Words that are Part of a Phrase

• example: "great barrier reef"

Specify Words that Must Appear in the Results and Attach a + in front words that must appear in result documents.

• example: sting +bee

Specify Words that Should Not Appear in the Results and Attach a - in front of words that must not appear in result documents.

• example: python -monty

Wildcard Matching (*) - Attaching a * to the right-hand side of a word will return left side partial matches.

• example: compare: caps versus cap*

If you have any other questions, comments or problems, please complete our Technical Support Request.