GOIN' FISHIN'?

YOU'LL NEED THE RIGHT GEAR!

Web directories, like Yahoo's and Magellan's, are like card catalogs; they file everything in categories, such as Sports, Entertainment or Computers. Once you find your topic in a Web directory, you've got a handful of key sites to start out with. And that might be all you need. Most directories include brief descriptions of each site and lead you to a site's home page, but not to specific pages within a site.

In short, your average Web directory is a no-nonsense tool - it gets the job done, and quickly. When you're looking for information on a general topic, a directory is the best place to start, particularly if you already know your way around it.

BUT Web directories cover only a small fraction of the pages available on the Web. That's where search engines like those found on AltaVista, HotBot and Lycos come in. You tell the engine what you're interested in, and it finds all the Web pages it knows about that match. To keep their records current, the search engines use programs called spiders or bots that follow links from page to page, recording all or part of the content on each page as they go, eventually casing much of the Web. Because no human intervention is required, search engines can cover much more of the Web than directories can. But you need to know how to use them if you don't want to waste your time sifting through thousands of possibilities. Without a good search strategy and carefully constructed queries, you can waste a lot of time.

If you're looking for general information, start out with a Web directory, like Yahoo (www.yahoo.com). On the other hand, if you're looking for a specific concept or phrase (like bulletproof vest), you need a search engine like Alta Vista.

Take your time and do the job right. Give some thought to your queries. You'll get better results that way. Try entering a handful of words or a phrase related to your subject, like Toledo restaurant, if you're looking for food here at home.

The more specific you can be, the better. Leave out non-essential words like of, to, the, and, etc. For instance, if you are looking for instances when Carty has been over the top, try finkbeiner carty toledo speeches and that should bring up quite a few.

If a search returns no hits or too few, your query might be too narrow. Try another query with fewer words or different, less specific words. If instead a search returns thousands of hits, your query is probably too broad. If you don't find what you're looking for in the first two pages of results, stop. Try again with more specific words.

Don't be afraid to try different engines. Often the same query on another search engine will bring the results you're looking for.

Tired of pounding the pavement? Instead of sending a query repeatedly to different sites, use a Metasearch tool - a Web site or program that submits your query to several engines simultaneously, like SavvySearch.

A Metasearch tool can save you the trouble of visiting every site yourself, but you still face the problem of sorting through too many or too few hits. The solution is Search Assistants - programs that enhance, augment and help you keep track of your searches. Some of these tools stake out the Web for you, running the same queries for you again and again, and notifying you only if they've hit pay dirt.

Once you've found the pages you're interested in, you'll probably want to keep an eye on them, but you may not want to check each one each and every day to see what's new on them. That's where Offline Browsers come in. They download and sort through entire Web sites, including their links, or just certain pages. You can also use them like search assistants to run queries again and again - like the local weather for Toledo.

An example is Freeloader (www.freeloader.com). It's a free program that uses Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer to download sites and topics.

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