Now you know what the Internet is and you know there is a world of information out there waiting for you to access it but you are wondering how can I get it.  Correct?  Don't worry, you are about to learn it now.

Getting Started
Now that you are on the Internet, it is like someone threw you in a room full of ripped out pages from a book, correct?  You know there is information all around you but you don't know where to start to get what you need.  It can be overwhelming at first to have all this information in front of you on the Internet but no idea how to access it.  You are probably wondering, "Ok, so I have all this information I can get but how do I get it?" 

This is when you will need what is called a "Search Engine".  A Search Engine will help you narrow your search by looking through websites all over the Internet for you.  It will return websites and webpages for the keyword you are searching.

Hint:  When you are figuring out a keyword to search, try not to make the word too broad like cars, try to narrow your search by being more specific.  For an example, a good keyword would be mustang.  But it is also possible to make the search too narrow.  The keywords 1972 red Mustangmight not get any sites. 
 
 
 

Search Engines 
There are many, many search engines on the Internet.  Here are just a few:

http://www.metacrawler.com

http://www.excite.com

http://www.altavista.com

http://yahoo.com

http://yahooligans.com

How does it work?

This is how a search engine works.  First, lets say your teacher asked you to do a report on the state of Montana.  You have come to the Internet to to find your information.  The easiest way to get the information is by using a Search Engine.

Assignment One:

1.  You would pick a search engine to use.  Choose the Yahooligan link from the above links.  It will take you to the Yahooligans web page.  
2.  In the empty space, type in the word "Montana".  
3.  Click on the "Search" button.  The Yahooligans search engine will return with several links to sites you can visit.  Visit a couple of the sites it suggests.  
4.  Write two of the site address (url) of the sites you visited.