There are a number of different options for searching the Internet for information about a particular topic. Obviously if you have the address of a particular web-page (called a URL) already, you won't need to search for a page, but if you are looking for as much information as you can find on a particular topic then you will need some help.

Fortunately, this help is available in the form of Internet Search Engines. These are systems that have been set up that can search and sort millions of web pages in a matter of seconds and return specific information back to you (providing you know what questions to ask). There are dozens of these pages around but I've listed (and provided links to) five of these below...not coincidentally the five I find to be the best:

Although similar, each one of these services is slightly different in the way that they sort and return information to you. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with a couple of these and try running some searches for information on a particular topic. Type in whatever word or phrase you want to find information on in the blank that appears on the "front" page of each of these search engines and just see what happens.

You'll also notice that each page usually has a link to a "Help" or "Instructions" or "How to use..." page somewhere on the front which will give you some hints on how to make your searches for information more productive. Search engines are the single most useful way to navigate the 'Net but you have to know how to use them, so spend some time familiarizing yourself with at least one of these (if you master one of them, you'll be pretty much home free).