I’m often surprised when someone tells me they’re having trouble finding something online. When I observe their techniques, though, I begin to see some reasons behind it. These tips will help you hone your search techniques so that you’ll find a useful result on the first page nearly every time.
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Google is not always the best answer. Sounds like sacrilege, doesn’t it? Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there is another search engine that will do a better job than Google. But depending on what sort of information you’re looking for, you might actually find better information, quicker, by going directly to an information source. Examples:
- Wikipedia. If you are looking for an overview of a subject, there is really no better place to start than Wikipedia. You’ve probably heard that you can’t trust the information in Wikipedia because “anyone can edit it!” (usually recited somewhat hysterically), but the truth is that most of the time the information there is just fine. There are a lot of people editing it, and for the most part it ends up right. If accuracy is critically important, then Wikipedia should only be your first research stop. One of the great things about Wikipedia is that pages are documented. Not only are there links between related articles, but there are also links at the bottom of the page to the sources that were used to write the article. If you follow the links to the sources, you can decide for yourself what is or is not credible.
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