People who are new to surfing sometimes get lost on the Internet just like you might get lost in a new town trying to find your way.

Below are some easy tips and hints that will make this task easier.

It's easy, you do a search.  To do this, you first need to go to a search engine like Google or Dogpile. Learning to use one or more of these free global resources is one of the best investments you can make in developing your Internet skills!

You tell the search engine what you are looking for and it magically searches the entire Internet. After a few seconds, it gives you a list of places to go on the Internet with information similar to what you are looking for.

The trick to getting the best results is knowing which words to use to tell the search engine what you want. That's what this mini-course is about.

There are many search engines available on the Internet and any of them will conduct a search, but we have our favorites.

We recommend using Google as your first choice.  The reason for this is that Google actually searches websites for words on the site. For instance, if you were looking for Ugandan art, Google will search out all the websites that mention Ugandan art and give you a list. This means you get a much more complete list of sources. 

The other engine we recommend is Dogpile. This engines does not work alone, but searches the databases of the top 20 search engines, so you also get a much more complete list of resources.

The links below open in a new window. Try one:

After you type in the box then you click on Search, Go, Fetch or whatever word the search engine uses. It will do a search for you and then give you a list of relevant sites for you to visit.

Sometimes this list can contain thousands of sites so you will need to learn to refine your search to save yourself time and effort. The tips below should help you.

The disadvantage of this method is that you very often will get a lot of sights that are not really relevant. In asking the above question, you will also get many sites on your list that sell paint for houses, or advertisements for others who work painting houses. It can take a lot of time to sort them out.

You can refine your search by asking a more specific question. You could ask "How do I find a do it yourself painting guide?" You will now notice that your list has mostly sites that offer instructions or guides to painting a house.

So, ask a question to get your answers, but always remember to make your question as specific as possible.

When choosing the words you will use, decide what you are looking for. Be specific. Think about what you really want. For instance, if you are looking for a name for baby and you just type in "baby name" and do a search, you will get thousands of sites listed in your search results. The problem is that you are being too general. You need to be more specific.

Maybe what you really want are African names for boys. So,  you should type in "African boy names." The list of sites will be much shorter and will be more relevant what you are looking for. You can even be more specific if you want. Lets say you only want Swahili names. You would type in "Swahili boy names" and the list will be even shorter and more relevant to what you are seeking.

Just like asking questions (above), the key to using search words is to be as specific as possible.

Each site on the list will have a short description of what is on the site.  If one interests you, you click on the link to it. But watch out! The first thing that will happen is that your list of search results will disappear, to be replaced by the website you clicked to. You can use your back button to get back to your list of search results, but there is a risk you might end up getting lost. Then you'll have to start your search over again.

A simple way to avoid losing your search results is to right click on any link you wish to visit, and then on open link in new window.  This will open the sites you wish to visit in new windows, and your search results window will stay open. 

You can have many windows open at one time. While the links you have right clicked to open in new windows are loading, you do not have to wait. Go back to the search results window and continue reading. If you find another site of interest, right click, open in new window again.

Now you can go and look at the sites you have found without fear of losing your list. As long as you keep opening the sites in new windows, your list will always stay open.

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