Web sites exist on practically every subject imaginable, and the number of Web sites is growing exponentially. This rapid growth means that the key to finding the information you need is using one (or more) of the powerful Web search engines.

One piece of warning, though: each search engine has different search principles and different methods of searching. Think carefully about your search terms and know how the search engine deals with 'ands' and 'ors.' It also helps to list the major concepts of your topics and think of synonyms for these concepts. Once your search is completed, simply double-click on a Web site that interests you and you are automatically connected to that site.

The following are the major Web search engines -- along with their Web addresses.

The best search Website:

First, our favorite search engine by far -- very comprehensive in its coverage of the number of Web pages (and more) that it indexes:

• Google, an amazing site -- and current favorite -- which uses sophisticated next-generation technology to produce the right results fast with every query. Currently has billions of Web pages, images, maps, and more in its index! Plus email, and much more! Web address: http://www.google.com/

Other good search engines -- in alphabetical order:

• All the Web, which has a goal of cataloging the entire Web, and expects to continue to grow with the Web to 2 billion documents and beyond. Web address: http://www.alltheweb.com/
• Alta Vista, which claims to be the first full-text search service in the world dedicated to setting the standard for search technology and how people find information. Web address: http://www.altavista.com/
• Ask.com, which was formerly known as AskJeeves. Strong search capabilities of the Web, images, and more. Web address: http://www.ask.com/
• Excite, which searches more than 50 million Web sites and two weeks of Usenet News. Web address: http://www.excite.com/
• Gigablast, which is an up-and-coming search engine in the Google image, now with about 10 billion pages indexed. Web address: http://gigablast.com/
• iWon, which is both a directory and a search engine (and gives away lots of prizes!), has an index of more than 500 million documents updated constantly to ensure more precise search results. Search now powered by Google. Web address: http://www.iwon.com/
• Jayde.com, a search engine directory with 1 million plus site listings, and offering visitor control over how search results are displayed. Web address: http://www.jayde.com/
• Live Search, from Microsoft, a fast search engine that searches the Web, images, maps, and more. Web address: http://www.live.com/
• LookSmart, a tool for finding articles and other information on the Web... calling itself a vertical search site engine, it offers essential search results with the ability to find, save, and share articles and other web content.
• L3xicon.com, a web thesaurus and lexicon listing quintcareers.com under careers, jobs and job-search. The lexicon is generated using statistical analysis on internet and combined with a traditional dictionary. Web address: http://www.l3xicon.com/
• Lycos, which displays the most-visited sites at the top of the list rather than by displaying results by relevancy (the frequency with which your search word appears on a Web page). Web address: http://www.lycos.com/
• Scrub the Web, which ranks Websites in its search results by the relevancy of the search term to the number of times it finds the search term in the sites. Web address: http://www.scrubtheweb.com/
• SPLAT, maintains a large and spam free-index to make searching easier and more complete for our users. They search the web sites splattered all over the Net to find exactly what you need, so you don't have to. Web address: http://www.splatsearch.com/
• WiseNut, a rapidly rising relative newcomer, which searches/indexes more than 1.5 billion Web pages. Wow... Developing the fastest and most comprehensive search engine on the Web. Web address: http://www.wisenut.com/
• Yahoo, a popular favorite, which is a fairly comprehensive subject index. More of a directory than search engine; however, have partnered with Google.com to provide excellent searching in addition to its directory. Web address: http://www.yahoo.com/