FAQs, Help, and Tutorials

AskScott
Scott Nicholson helps you choose the most appropriate search engine for your needs, then shows you how to use it.
http://www.askscott.com/

BrightPlanet :Guide to Effective Searching of the Internet
Practical steps to improve the quality of your Internet search results.
http://www.brightplanet.com/resources/details/searching.html

Finding Information on the Internet
The University of California Berkeley recommends search strategies, explains search tools, and gives guidance on evaluating and citing web pages. Includes a glossary and tables comparing search tools.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html

Fravia's Web Searching Lore
Fravia describes the nature of the web, and offers advanced searching strategies and techniques, including designing your own searchbots.
http://www.searchlores.org/

How Stuff Works: Internet Search Engines
Curt Franklin's article explains in detail how search engines work. It includes a diagram of the indexing process.
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/search-engine.htm

iNet Investigation
Learn how to conduct your own people search and background checks.
http://www.inet-investigation.com/

Information Research FAQ
How to find information on the Internet and beyond. Covers theory in great detail.
http://spireproject.com/faq.htm

Internet Search FAQ
Charles Harris explains how to find information, people, and pictures on the Net and gives hints on evaluating the reliability of Web-based sources.
http://www.footloosefilms.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/faq/res1.htm

Net.Tutor
Interactive tutorials from The Ohio State University Libraries to help you search the Web effectively, evaluate information and incorporate it into research projects.
http://liblearn.osu.edu/tutor/

NoodleTools
A suite of interactive tools designed to aid students and professionals with their online research, from selecting a search engine and finding some relevant sources, to citing those sources.
http://www.noodletools.com/

Research Launchpad
Introduces various resources for Web searching from Ric Shreves.
http://www.researchlaunchpad.com/

Research Tips
Collection of search resources and tips for college students from Oakton Community College, including Boolean searches, copyright and citing sources.
http://servercc.oakton.edu/~wittman/research.htm

Search Easy
Summary of indexing techniques and drawbacks of various search engines and how to perform effective searches tips.
http://www.searcheasy.htmlplanet.com/

Search Engine Honesty
Discusses search engine bias and censoring of results.
http://www.searchenginehonesty.com/

Search Engine Terms
A multi-lingual glossary of search engine terms as suggested by members of the I-Search Digest.
http://www.cadenza.org/search_engine_terms/

Searchingspot
Describes how to use search engines, directories and newsgroups, covering simple and advanced techniques. Includes a search engine control features chart.
http://www.searchingspot.com/

The Spire Project
Explores Internet search theory, the work of David Novak, a researcher bridging library science to computer science. Covers search strategy, new techniques and choreography.
http://spireproject.com/

Sreetips
Tips on smarter web surfing from a Columbia University journalism professor and WABC-TV's technology reporter Sreenath Sreenivasan.
http://www.sreetips.com/

11 Steps to Effective Searching
An extract from Niall Ó Dochartaigh, The Internet Research Handbook: A Practical Guide for Students and Researchers in the Social Sciences (2002).
http://www.nuigalway.ie/soc/research/11steps.html

The Usually Useful Internet Guide for Journalists
An Internet guide for journalists. Created for those who want to have a better understanding of the Internet and its potential as a journalistic research tool.
http://www.usus.org/

Web Search Guide
Gwen Harris explains web searching, strategies and tools from a Canadian perspective. Includes also Internet Explorer (5.0-5.5) basics, e-mail communication, and discussion groups.
http://www.websearchguide.ca/tutorials/tocfram.htm

Web Search Strategies
Debbie Flanagan's interactive tutorial on using search engines, subject directories, and specific databases to find information on the Internet fast and effectively.
http://www.learnwebskills.com/search/

Web Searching
The Internet Public Library advises on which search engine to choose and how best to use them.
http://www.ipl.org/div/websearching/