Filamentality: Searching Tips

Tips on Searching

Entering Your Topic or Related Terms

Just about all the search engines like basic everyday words the best. Each also offers tips on doing customized searches on their particular engine. If an engine's not working for you the way you think it should, try another: life's too short to spend time tinkering with an engine that doesn't want to run. Finally, the main thing to remember in searching is:

"If at first you don't succeed, try try a synonym."

Search and Surf until you "Find Good Stuff"

Here's the kind of stuff you're looking for:

solid info close to your users' reading, interest, and knowledge levels
sites that are fun, cool, passionate, creative, interesting
the kind of stuff you don't find in encyclopedias (see the bullet above)
places and people that reach beyond "school"
different opinions on the same topic
sparks, sparks, and more sparks

Other Tips:

Give yourself a block of time to search.
Don't give up too soon. The great Web site could be one link away!
Try some different, related search terms.
If you're not having any luck, try a different search engine.
Follow links you run across on "Hotlists" offered by pages you hit.
If you start hitting the same site from different directions, you're probably finished.

Education First - Pacific Bell -
SDSU Last revised May 1, 1996
By the SDSU/Pacific Bell Fellows
Applications Design Team/Wired Learning
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/filamentality/search.tips.html
Copyright © 1996 Pacific Bell -- All Rights Reserved