Oregon School Library
Information System

 Beyond Surfing

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Surfing is browsing without tools, much like going into a bookstore with no specific purchase in mind. In this section you will find information to help you become an efficient searcher.

Surfing is unstructured and serendipitous browsing where you follow links from page to page, make educated guesses along the way, hoping sooner or later to arrive at a desired piece of information. Surfing is fun when you have time to explore, but when you need specific information quickly, or need to find information again, surfing and serendipity soon lose their charm.

Instruction

The Web is a very interesting medium for research. You should keep in mind that:

1. Anyone can publish any kind of information
2. A complete list of Web sites does not exist
3. There are no official organizers, catalogers, or evaluators
4. Sites constantly change; new sites are created and old sites disappear
5. Finally, there are no standards for Web search tools

This means each search engine has strengths and weaknesses. It's helpful to know what those are in order to select the one best suited for your information needs.

Don't assume that what people say about the Web is necessarily true:

"You can find it faster."
"The information is more current."
"The information is just as reliable as that found in books or magazines."

Searching is not evaluating. Given the nature of Web information, it's vital to evaluate the Web pages you dig up. See How to Critically Evaluate Web Information for things to consider when evaluating a Web page.

*On this page, "Web pages" means the "free Web" or Web sites anyone can access, not Web-based research tools like the online databases for which a library pays a subscription fee.

Directories
Search Engines
Metasearch Engines
Portals, Learn More...
 Self-Check

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