This section covers searching using the standard search engines found on the internet and the use of "gateway" sites.

Search engines are very useful if you have a specific enquiry about a subject. A good search engine to start with is Google. It is very fast and currently searches over 2 billion web pages. It returns information according to how often the sites are accessed - which means that popular sites are displayed first. It also has a "groups" section where you can select health and medically related sites and browse them. Beware, Google searches the whole internet - the quality and reliability of what you find isn't guaranteed!

Another approach is to search using a "gateway" site. Gateway sites only link to pre-screened sites that guarantee quality information. Three such sites are:

HealthInsite- the Australian commonwealth Government's site;

The National electronic Library of Health is the UK's premier site; and

MedlinePLUS - the US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health site.

When searching, it is important to be as specific as you can when entering a keyword or phrase. For example, entering "asthma" as a keyword into Google returns over 2 million pages in 0.12 seconds. The top 10 are all reputable sites but are either British or American.

If you enter "asthma Australia" the search returns 131,000 pages that contain both words and the top 10 include the home pages of the National Asthma Campaign and Asthma Australia - both reputable and high quality sites.

If you refine things further, for example, "asthma management plan Australia", then the top 10 are all immediately relevant web pages, including the publications page of the National Asthma Council Australia's web site as the first hit.

Note that on the right side of the page there are pink boxes that have "sponsored link" written next to them. These are often promotional sites funded by pharmaceutical or other companies. That isn't to say that their content is necessarily unreliable, but they do have a clear agenda!

The best way is just practice for yourself and learn as you go!

The Spider's Apprentice provides an excellent and comprehensive guide to searching.

Alternatively, have a look at Finding Information on the Internet - a series of tutorials provided by the University of California at Berkely.

The University of Geneva maintains a large directory of search engines and related software.

Alta Vista and professional medical databases have additional features that allow you to refine your search using a concept called Boolean logic. This is covered in the Advanced Guide.