Many different search engines are available to search the Internet. In this example, you will use AltaVista and Yahooligans!. AltaVista is a very complete search engine site that catalogs a large percentage of the Internet. Yahooligans! contains indexed category listings and was created specifically for children.

1. If Netscape is already open, type www.altavista.com in the Location box. If it is not open, type the URL in StarOffice's URL box to launch Netscape.
   
   
2. Hit the Enter or Return key on your keyboard. Once at the site, click on the Advanced Search tab (Figure 1).
   
   
   Figure 1
   
   
3. Hit the Enter or Return key on your keyboard.
   
   
4. In the Boolean query text box, type the keywords for your search (Figure 2).
   
   
   Figure 2
   
   Remember to use the words "and" and "or" to limit or expand your search. If you are doing compound searches such as that shown in the screen shot, you will need to use quotation marks. AltaVista automatically puts invisible quotes around multiple words, signifying exact phrases. Some of you may be accustomed to typing in quotation marks. This is not necessary with this search engine but varies with others.
   
   Group ideas using parentheses. If two different phrases mean nearly the same thing, group them and use them both ("adaptive education" or "special education").
   
   Be explicit when you type; everything you type needs to relate with everything else, using the Boolean words "and" and "or." If you don't close a parenthesis or don't specify the relationship of terms, you will get an error message. Just fix your mistake and try again.
   
   
5. Click the Search button when you finish typing your search criteria.
   
   
6. Wait for the screen to refresh. The search results will be displayed on the left above the search box, indicating how many matches were found (Figure 3).
   
   
   Figure 3
   
   In the example shown, 94,288 matches were found. This is too many to read through; therefore, refine your search by limiting it with more "and" terms. If too few results are shown, add more "or" terms or remove some of the "and" terms.
   
   NOTE: Your screen will not look exactly like the one shown, Information on the Internet changes by the minute.
   
   NOTE: "and" and "or" are not case-sensitive.
   
   
7. The matches count is the list of sites that contain matches to your query. The title for each matched page is shown, along with the first few words of text on the page. You can read through these, clicking on any title to visit the page (Figure 4).
   
   
   Figure 4
   
   NOTE: Your screen will not look exactly like the one shown because information on the Internet changes constantly.
   
   
8. Only ten matches will be shown. To see the next set of matches, click on the [>>] symbol at the bottom of the page, or click on the number 2, then the 3 to see the next ten hits, and so on (Figure 5).
   
   
   Figure 5
   
   
   
   
9. To get additional information about how to do searches, read the Help screen for AltaVista. Click on the word "Help" near the top of the screen (Figure 6).
   
   
   Figure 6
   
   All search engines have a help screen that will assist you in understanding how to perform advanced searches.
   
   TIP: All teachers, regardless of their computer skill level, should become advanced in searching for information on the Internet. The initial learning and practice time necessary to master these skills will be repaid quickly compared with the time it takes to slog through the results of searches without using Boolean operators.

1. In the URL box, type: http://www.yahooligans.com
   
   
2. Press the Enter or Return key on your keyboard. The site should now appear (Figure 7).
   
   
   Figure 7
   
   NOTE: Your screen will not look exactly like the one shown because information on the Internet changes constantly.
   
   
3. You can use Yahooligans! for simple searching or a menu system. Look at the list of categories and choose one to explore. Chose "Social Studies" (Figure 8).
   
   
   Figure 8
   
   
4. Click on the category, and a page with subcategories will appear. Click on the subcategory of interest. Chose "Cultures," a newly added subcategory that has 93 entries (Figure 9).
   
   
   Figure 9
   
   
5. The subcategories of this subcategory will appear, along with any sites that don't fit into these collections. Five more subcategories are shown along with a number of sites (Figure 10).
   
   
   Figure 10
   
   
6. Finally, click on the site of interest to visit it. In this example, we chose "Australian People."
   
   NOTE: Your screen will not look exactly like the one shown because information on the Internet changes all the time. The site will appear (Figure 11).
   
   
   Figure 11
   
   Beginning Internet and computer users should take some time to explore the search engines at this point. Relax. Enjoy finding sites and reading information of interest to you. This is what mining the Internet is all about.