Searching the Internet

"If you don't care where you're at, then you ain't lost/"
-- Unknown

Seek And You're Just Liable To Find

The hardest part of using the Internet? That's easy. The hardest part of the Internet is finding anything on it.

Don't get me wrong. You can find plenty on the Internet. The Peewee Herman Worship Page!, Native American legends, a recipe for that disgusting tuna casserole with crushed potato chips on top my mother used to subject me to once a week, the tech nical settings for a five-year-old hard disk drive, the lyrics to the song "Hair", tips on brewing your own beer and lots more.

The biggest problem is finding:

What you want.
When you want it.
In a form you can use.

Seeking out information -- searching the Internet -- is an art form. You become your own research librarian. For some people -- me included -- that is about as interesting as it gets. I'm a Trivial Pursuit fanatic and random facts intrigue me. The Int ernet to me is like following Alice through the Looking Glass!

For others, searching the Internet is more like "Nightmare On Elm Street."

There's just so much there!

First Things First

The very first thing you need to understand is that there are different tools to use to search for different things.

If you are searching for software titles, the best tool is Archie.
If you are searching for menus of information, the best tool is Gopher.
If you are searching for Web pages, the best tools are Lycos or WebCrawler.
If you are searching for terms IN a document, the best tool is Wide Area Internet Search (WAIS).
If you are searching for information within newsgroups, the best tool is DejaNews.
If you are searching for general information, the best tools are Alta Vista or Yahoo.
If you are searching for definitive information on a particular topic, the best source, however you find it, is Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Files.
If you are searching for the e-mail address of an old college buddy, the best tool is FOUR11.
If you are searching for the best way to search for anything AND everything, the best tool is All-in-One Search Page
If you are searching only for information on Australian Web sites, the best tool is Little Aussie Web Wombat Search Engine.

Where Do I Start?

Later Chapters will cover Archie and Gopher. For now, let's take a brief look at the others.

ALL-IN-ONE Search Page:
This site has them ALL! You can search though all the facilities below, as well as Webster's Dictionary, Shakespeare, newsgroups, the Web, in addition to specialized little search program which bring up a lot that th e big guys overlook!
DejaNews:
This program searches all newsgroups for matches to the terms you input. Quite valuable for tracking down information on specific topics and the people who know the subject best.
Lycos and WebCrawler:
These search programs are accessed from the World Wide Web and have been around for a number of years. Both search a series of Web pages for a specific word or series of words. They return a list of "hits," or instanc es of the occurrance of one or more of the words in the search.
Alta Vista and Yahoo:
These are "the new kids on the block," and have established some pretty impressive reputations in a very short time. Both are fast and thorough, though Yahoo specializes in searching the titles of Web sites while Alta Vista searches the entire text.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) files:
This is where it gets interesting, too. Experts on every topic imaginable -- from Firesign Theater to Ferrets, from converting binary files to composting, from urban development to urban legends -- m aintain virtually "living" documents on their area or interest or expertise. Looking for the REAL story on Craig Shergold or Roy Batty's dying speech in Bladerunner, this is the first place to look.
FOUR11:
This site is very interesting. I found my own user ID, domain name and e-mail address -- and up to that time, I had NOT registered with them. If you're searching for a friend or acquaintance, and old high school pal -- or a former girlfriend -- this is the place to start.