1. Read the directions and help screens: The search engines differ, knowing the peculiarities of a particular search engine will save lots of time.
2. Check your spelling: You can’t find anything about Grover Cleveland, if you type "Cleaveland." But Google will actually give you spelling hints.
3. Be As Specific As Possible: If the Search Engine, allows you to put a phrase in quotes, then do that. In Google, "I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang" in quotes gives 5,500 hits but without quotes, it gives you 12,500 hits. Use as many words as possible.
4. Use Differentiating Words: Look for words that highlight differences rather than common words; uncommon names are particularly useful. If you were interested in the Federal Theatre Project, you might do better searching under the name of the director, Hallie Flanagan. Even better, you might combine "Federal Theatre Project" AND "Hallie Flanagan" In these three searches, you go from 5,000 to 1,820 to 877 hits.
5. If you are looking for a picture or sound file, limit your search by those categories: The procedure varies with search engine, but Alta Vista and MSN allow you to search for just mp3s, images, or video. Google has an excellent image search engine.
6. The Truth is Out There: Work on the assumption that what you want is available. If you get no hits, recheck your spelling and the logic of your search.
7. If your search is general, try a directory: If you are in a very preliminary and broad search, you might do better with a directory like Yahoo!, or DMOZ (available through Google), than a comprehensive search engine. Consider also specialized directories such as the US History directory at History Matters
8. Bookmark what looks useful: Bookmarks are a useful way to keep track of something that seems promising that you want to return to. Or some browsers off a "tab" feature.
9. Look in the Deep Web: An increasing amount of historical material is in the "invisible" or "deep" Web of databases (such as American Memory) that don't show up in general Web searches.
10. Look in the Private Web: There is a vast amount of historical material in proprietary databases that you can not reach on the Public Web. Our library subscribes to much of this material and http://library.gmu.edu/resources/dbase.html is your gateway to that material.
11. Use Google: It's the best search engine overall. But Yahoo! and MSN are trying hard to imitate its search strategies.

 

If you want to learn much more about searching, two good starting points are:

Search Engine Watch: http://www.searchenginewatch.com

and University of California, Berkeley: "Finding Information on the Internet : A TUTORIAL" at http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.htm