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Hints for Using Search Engines

Web Search Engines allow you to search the Internet for information or resources on your topic, person, or company. Each engine has its own strengths and weaknesses, and while coverage between each engine overlaps, you will obtain different results using different engines. Some may give you large amounts of information only broadly related to your topic. Others give less, but results will be more focused. For more information about how different search engines work, go to Search Engine Showdown. Remember, most articles and research results are not freely available on the Web and will not be found using these engines. See a reference librarian for more searching strategies.

You can also try Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial. This site is from the University of California at Berkeley and is designed for beginning and more advanced Internet users. Especially helpful are the tips for constructing searches and explanations of different search engines, including which ones are most appropriate for different types of searches.