Finding What You Need on the World Wide Web

Imagine you are on a mission: to uncover information that will help you answer an important question. How do you quickly track down what you need to know when you have a whole world full of information at your fingertips? Discover how to locate what you want on the Internet by learning not only where to look but how to look through these direct links on The Times Launch Point Web site: https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint.

Level 1

Yahooligans: The Web Guide for Kids: Research topics for homework or for hobbies on this site that also features special news and sports sections, an online almanac and a calendar of upcoming net events suited for kids. Let Earl take you on a guided tour of Internet sites as he answers questions each week submitted by kids from all over.

https://www.yahooligans.com

Welcome to the Web: Searching the Net: When using a search engine, you can get very different results depending on whether you enclose the keywords in quotations. Learn six useful strategies for searching the World Wide Web as you practice searching the Amazing Atlas and get acquainted with the kid-safe search engines Yahooligans and Ask Jeeves for Kids.

https://www.teachingideas.co.uk/welcome/searching/index.htm

Internet Public Library: Youth Division: This online library offers a well-organized selection of helpful sites as well as excellent exhibits on U.S. presidents and science fair project resources and a visit with Dr. Internet.

https://www.ipl.org/youth/

Level 2

Ask Jeeves for Kids: Why is the sky blue? This special search engine answers your questions by pointing you to appropriate sites. Join Jeeves for special tours on bugs, earthquakes and mythology and try such activities as Spy Master, Gross Out and Dirt Delight.

https://www.askjeevesforkids.com

KidsClick! Worlds of Web Searching: Travel through nine worlds and try activities that teach you how to navigate the World Wide Web. Learn tips for searching with keywords, learn about sorted subject guides for kids and find out how you can locate pictures, sound and video clips that are useful for school projects.

https://www.worldsofsearching.org/

Pitsco’s Ask an Expert! From astronauts to zookeepers, here’s your chance to get your questions answered by experts. This site is a great place for researching a topic for a report or exploring careers, but be sure to check the archive before asking a question.

https://www.askanexpert.com/

Level 3

Using the Internet for Research: You can save time searching by using specific keywords. This helpful guide takes you step by step through online research: from planning your search and using search engines to evaluating resources and properly citing electronic resources in a bibliography.

https://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/internet/research.htm

Encarta Encyclopedia: This online encyclopedia not only has articles linked to useful Web sites but also a collection of maps, special exhibits on such topics as space exploration and even a Challenge Game, in which you can learn more about the trivia questions you answer.

https://encarta.msn.com/

Bare Bones 101: A Basic Tutorial on Searching the Web: What are subject directories, search engines and meta-searchers? What do you do if your search results in millions of documents? Learn helpful search tips and strategies, including Boolean logic, and find out what tools are best used for searches.

https://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/bones.html

EXPLORER’S QUEST

The answer to this Internet quiz can be found in the sites at right.

How would you find Web sites containing information only on the Miami Dolphins and not about dolphins in Miami?

CLUE: See Welcome to the Web: Searching the Net

Find What You Need to Know: Have a project on California history? Need help doing a math problem? Launch Point now covers more than 100 topics for getting your schoolwork done. Go to https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint/ for the full list of subjects and direct links to the best Internet sites.

Answer to last week’s Quest: George Washington thought the U.S. flag should have six-pointed stars, but Betsy Ross demonstrated that five-pointed stars were easy to make.

Launch Point is produced by the UC Irvine department of education, which reviews each site for appropriateness and quality. Even so, parents should supervise their children’s use of the Internet. This column was designed by Anna Manring.