By keeping in mind a few simple concepts, however, you will have no problem using the Internet to conduct research. The quickest way to find information on the Internet is by using the various search engines. Search engines can be divided into 3 different categories, depending on how they search the Internet. Basic search engines maintain a database of words that are gathered from the Internet. These engines regularly scan the Internet and update their database.
Users enter keywords or phrases and the engines return a list of matched pages from their database.
Subject-directory search engines also allow searching via keywords or phrases, but the pages in their database are organized into categories. This categorization allows a user to browse the database and find sites within a category. Meta-search search engines use keywords or phrases to search for sites, but they do not search just their database. They also search other engine databases and return a list of matched pages. Search Strategies Knowing how search engines are categorized makes choosing which engine to use easier.