Steps to successful searching include:

1. Selecting the right tool
2. Understanding search engine features
3. Developing a good search strategy using the correct tool and available features
4. Evaluating search results

Please send any comments concerning this page to Karen Odato.

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1. Selecting the right tool

General Subject Directories
Use subject directories to find higher quality websites. They work best when your topic is a broad concept or single term.

• Librarians' Index
  http://lii.org
  A searchable, annotated subject directory of more than 10,000 Internet resources selected and evaluated by librarians. The Librarians' Index is a reliable and efficient guide to described and evaluated Internet resources.

   

• Internet Public Library Subject Collections
  http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/
  An annotated collection of high quality Internet resources, selected by IPL staff at the University of Michigan School of Information for their usefulness in providing accurate, factual information on a particular topic or topics.
• Yahoo
  http://dir.yahoo.com/
  Yahoo is the largest subject directory of Internet resources; it is not as selective as the others in this list.

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Medical Subject Directories

• MedWeb from Emory University
  http://www.medweb.emory.edu/SPT--Home.php
  MedWeb is a catalog of biomedical and health related web sites maintained by the staff of the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library at Emory University.
• Hardin Meta-Directory of Internet Health Sources
  http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/md/
  Hardin MD is a "list of lists" providing access to comprehensive resource lists in health-related subjects. Lists that are most frequently cited by people in the field are selected, offering a rudimentary form of peer evaluation.

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Popular Search Engines
Use search engines for comprehensive or obscure searches, to find a specific website, when you're searching for more than one concept, or if you haven't found what you are looking for in the directories.

• Google
  http://www.google.com
• AllTheWeb
  http://www.alltheweb.com
• Ask.com
  http://www.ask.com/
• List of additional popular search engines
  http://searchenginewatch.com/links/major.html

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Metasearch Engines
Use metasearch engines to search multiple engine databases simultaneously with a single interface.

• Ixquick
  http://www.ixquick.com/
• Vivisimo
  http://vivisimo.com/
• List of Additional Metasearch Engines
  http://searchenginewatch.com/links/metacrawlers.html

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Deep or Invisible Web Search Tools
Use these tools to search pages that cannot be found in search engines and rarely are in subject directories, including:

• Databases where you enter search terms.
• Sites that require log-ins.
• Web pages that are not linked to from other "visible" or "known" pages.
• PDF documents (except at Google and AllTheWeb)

• Complete Planet
  http://www.completeplanet.com/
• Invisible or Deep Web: What it is, Why it exists, How to find it from the UC Berkeley Library
  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/InvisibleWeb.html

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2. Features of popular search tools

• Search Tools Chart from the Infopeople Project
  http://www.infopeople.org/search/chart.html
• Recommended Search Engines: Table of Features from the UC Berkeley Library
  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SearchEngines.html
• Recommended General Subject Directories: Table of Features from the UC Berkeley Library
  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SubjDirectories.html

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3. Web searching tutorials and information sites: strategy development

• Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial from UC Berkeley
  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html
• Search Engine Showdown
  http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/strat/

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4. Evaluating search results

General website evaluation tools

• Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources
  http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm
  From the UCLA College Library
• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet
  http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/
  From Johns Hopkins University
• Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
  From UC Berkeley

Medical website evaluation tools

• The HONcode Site Checker for Medical and Health Web Sites
  http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/HONcode_check.html
  From Health on the Net
• The HON Code of Conduct Principles
  http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Conduct.html
  From Health on the Net
• Criteria for Assessing the Quality of Health Information on the Internet - Policy Paper
  http://hitiweb.mitretek.org/docs/policy.html
  From Mitretek Systems

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Need Help?
Please email: Biomedical Libraries Reference or call 650-1660/7660.