One of the essential skills learners need is the ability to do effective Internet searches. An Internet search is a process of locating information on the Internet using what is called a search engine - a website of its own that directs users to other websites that potentially contain the information they need.

It is increasingly rare not to see a window marked "Search ? on non-search-oriented websites, since many other websites now have their own, internal search engines, which allow users to explore the content of that specific site only. What this article is addressing is the use of search engines such as Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! to search the entire Web for information.

On any of those search engines, look for the blank space to the right of the word Search. That is where your information search begins, by typing in the words naming the item(s) you are researching. Searching can be a highly advanced skill, and some Internet users have or need to develop complex searching skills. But some basic guidelines will be of help to all surfers of the Net.

First, make sure you spell correctly the thing(s) you are search for information about. Search engines do not think and cannot read your mind - even though it sometimes seems that they can, since a word or sequence of words put in the Search box may result in a question to the effect of, "Is 'X' what you meant to find, or were you looking for 'Y'? ? But you cannot assume that the search engine will help redirect your query.

Second, make your entry as specific as possible without being too long. Do not, for instance, enter all of a question that your have been asked to write about a paper about. Typing "the effects of the emancipation of American slaves on the international practice of indentured servitude ? in the Search field is unlikely to get you what you want unless, by freak accident, someone has written a paper with that exact title and it is published on the Internet. Try "emancipation of U.S. slaves ? first. That will give you background about the freeing of the slaves in America.

Then try "indentured servitude + current practice ?. That will give you referrals to stories relating to the second part of your topic. One of Google's options is "I'm feeling lucky, ? which means that you're wanting Google's best guess of the site(s) you are looking for. Unless you are very lucky indeed, you won't find a single u.r.l., or website, that contains information or an article on your topic in full.

The thing to notice about the recommended entry is the "+ ? symbol. Typing + between two separate entries tells the search engine to limit its search only to articles having to do with indentured servitude (a technical, "fancy ? name for slavery) and the ways in which it is practiced today. That's the piece of the history of slavery your topic has asked you to address.

When in doubt, use the + sign, but be aware that it is not always necessary if you make your topic specific enough in the first place. Say you want to learn about the life of Albert Einstein, one of the most influential scientists of the last century. Do not type in "Albert Einstein ? alone, because you will be directed to literally thousands of articles about Einstein. You would have to look through them all to see which ones were about his life, not his scientific work and discoveries. Instead, type in "Albert Einstein + biography ? or simply "Albert Einstein biography ?. That will help the search engine narrow its selection of the sites it directs you to.

Where the plus sign may prove of special advantage is if what you want is only a basic biography of Einstein. Typing in "Albert Einstein + short biography ? is likely to narrow the search to just that. There are likely to be numerous biographies of Einstein on the Web, some of them book-length. Similarly, if you want a more extensive biography of the physicist, try "Albert Einstein + long biography ?.

Similarly, you may use the minus-sign, - , to do a search that excludes items you do not want to appear in your search of a topic. For example, if you want to learn about myths about the creation of the world other than the one that appears in the Judeo-Christian Bible, try typing "creation myths - Bible ?. That should direct you to sites you want without what is probably the largest number of entries about creation myths, namely, those found in the Bible.

In all of the examples above, the words or word strings to be typed into the Search box are enclosed in parentheses. That has been done only to give you a clear idea of what to type there. In fact, parentheses (" ?) have a specific use in Internet searches and should be used only in those cases. Putting words into parentheses means that you want to find references in which those words appear together - right next to one another - only.

As an extreme example, if you type "George Washington ? - without the parentheses - in the Search box, you will be directed to all of the sites that contain the word "George ? and the word "Washington, ? together or separately. That would be a huge, unmanageable list.

But even typing "George Washington ?, with parentheses, will not limit your search to items about the first United States President, George Washington. Articles about the famous American scientist, George Washington Carver, would also come up, as would others on George Washington University, the George Washington Monument, and many others. If you were searching for information about the U.S. President, you would do well to type in "President George Washington ? or "George Washington + U.S. President ?. But again, even if you limited your search that much, the number of references to that extremely famous man would be unmanageably large. You would be wise to narrow your search further, to word strings such as "U.S. President George Washington biography ? or something even more specific, probably using the + or - sign as described above.

A January 2006 Google search of "George Washington ?, without parentheses, produced 150 million results. It is highly unlikely that you would want - or be able - to go through them all. If you then click on Googles "Advanced Search feature, it will give you a page containing ways for you to limit your search. It will ask you whether you want "both words ?, "the exact phrase ?, "at least one of the words ?, or even "without the words ?. It will also allow you to limit your research to articles in a particular language, format, or type of website, as well as many other ways to expand - or more likely limit - your search.

Finally, do not limit yourself to referrals from just one search engine. The references to Google above reflect the extent to which that search engine has become synonymous with searching itself. People even use the expression "Google it ? as a way of saying, "Do an Internet search on that. ? Search engines are unique, and each one has its own value.