Well on this page I want to go over the subject of internet search engines and one way that life can be made easier in finding things on the internet. As I'm sure you'll all agree, the internet is a huge microcosm in its own right and there are so many things that can be found out there. As a result finding what you want is likely to be very difficult without a search engine. But what is a search engine? No it isn't a two stroke!

A search engine is a means of finding what you want on the internet and there are many, many available to use. So how do you know what the best ones may be. There are also some which are more suitable for us here in the UK as opposed to others for use by Americans. Some search engines are better for searching for specialised sites such as scientific and maths subjects. There are yet others written for specific countries in their native language. However, although I know of many search engines and have links to them, I am certain there are many more that are completely unknown to me, possibly running into hundreds! So what are the most popular? Even more, what are the best?

There are several which come out well and produce results quickly. Of those I know, there are some which stand out more than others. However, this is primarily personal preference. The most popular search engines include Yahoo, Altavista (UK and USA version), Excite, Lycos and Netscape. Search engines such as Yahoo could be described as content search engines since it has easy access to specialised topics which have been collected together thus making it easy to find whatever you require very quickly.

The best though for my (and Jim's) personal needs is Google. I came across this search engine several years ago when I was test driving the Opera browser as it has it built into the program. I'd never heard of it before this but on trying it I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was so fast, it even told you how long the search took and I'm talking about literally fractions of a second. I did a search for Ralph Venables and it came up with over 3,000 pages in 0.14 seconds. Since finding Google I've stayed with it and it has never let me down. Google even produces a toolbar that can be installed into browsers which makes it a doddle to search for anything.

You will find that we have installed a Google search facility on the home page of this site and from it you can not only search the whole world wide web but also do a search for things, people etc on this site. However, this does not infer that we don't think you should install the Google tool bar.

When you install the toolbar there is no need to go to the search engine web site to enter your search term. Instead you just enter it into the toolbar, press Go and it comes up with the results. The toolbar installed is shown in the graphic below and as you can see it installs itself below the Internet Explorer toolbar. Once installed you quite simply go ahead and use it, i.e. enter your search term and press the icon to the right of the entry field.

So where do you find this toolbar? First go to www.google.com and on the Home page, select the services and tools links. When displayed, scroll down to the tools section and you will find a link to the Toolbar there. Click the link and you are presented with a page giving the benefits of the toolbar and at the bottom of the page is another link allowing you to get the toolbar. However, this actually displays a page asking you to agree to the terms and conditions. Once you agree, another link takes you to a page describing the two different versions available. We always take the advanced version as we have had problems with the standard version but the advanced version has always been fine for us. It is then just a case of letting Google install the toolbar although there may be a few things to which you may need a response. You should now be all set to go ahead and use the Google toolbar.

Jim and myself have found the toolbar to be very worthwhile installing - I'm sure it has saved us many hours over the time we've had it installed. One important thing I haven't mentioned is that by using the toolbar, you can also search the current site by entering your search term and pressing to search the site. There are also a few other features that quite frankly I don't use but really, its a case of just having a play to see what you can do - and don't forget to right click the toolbar!

As for how you use a search engine so much is dependent on the engine itself and can vary from search engine to search engine. It is a question I have asked myself from time to time but which almost always has an answer available on the search engine site. What you enter can be quite involved and depends so much on the way the engine has been written. The best thing to do if you are unsure what to enter or how to enter it, is to look for the help which is available on most search engine sites. This will generally give you all the information you need to enter your search term. There may also be an advanced help page which will go that little bit deeper in providing help. However, since each search engine may operate in different ways, I feel it would be inappropriate for me to even attempt to cover such a subject. I've attempted to point you in the right direction. I leave it to you to continue from here.

As always, if you have any questions you want to ask about what I've written on this subject. Even if its not Google you use we may still be able to help so please feel free to contact either Jim (webmaster) or myself (Tracey - Centre Secretary) and we will try to answer any questions you may have. Please use the email form on the Contact Us page.