Because search engines deliver results for practically any query on any topic, everyone thinks that they can search the web. If you're like most people, you have learned your web skills by trial and error.

The web world is full of half-truths, myths and outright lies. Search tools that appear useful may in fact be partnering with advertisers to deliver paid-for information and promotions to unsuspecting users. Because no one reads the "fine print" on web sites, few people are aware of the impact of commerce and advertising on what may appear to be relevant search results.

Now more than ever, people need to understand how information "happens" on the web. Most searchers know only the most popular, heavily used search sources. Search engines like Google and subject directories like Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) are well known "brands." Advanced searchers may know about meta-search tools such as Dogpile or Ask Jeeves.

The unfortunate truth is that, with a few exceptions, most well-known search tools don't do a very good job of bringing quality information to searchers' eyeballs.

Mythbreaking: the start of good web search training.

How do you teach something that people think they already know? Good web search training usually begins with myth-breaking and ends with exploration of high quality, less well known filtered web directories. Until myths are broken about how and why search engines deliver the results that they do, searchers don't fully understand how little they know about the web. Searchers who understand how their search queries can deliver pay-for-placement search results in both visible and invisible ways are able to become more mindful of how easily they can be manipulated.

Trainers can explore some excellent web sites that focus on the business of search engines. Our favorites are:

Search Engine News, from the Search Engine Guide
This excellent site aggregates news features from over 20 top search engine news trackers.

Search Engine Showdown
Greg Notess, a librarian based in Montana, focuses on search engine size and search features. This is a great site to follow the emergence of new search engines and to check on database size and refresh rates.

Search Engine Watch
Danny Sullivan's site focuses on search engine optimization, which is the art and science of how search engines rank order results on the page. Although this site is intended for people who want to help raise their web site's ranking, the information is equally useful for those who want to become more aware of how search engines manipulate rankings.

Don't focus exclusively on search engines.

Search engines don't cover the entire Web. Even the biggest search engines only serve up some 20-30% of the web, and that many high quality free sites (known as the 'invisible web' or 'deep web') can't be indexed by search engine crawling software. A search engine is just one device to search the web, and trainers should introduce other high quality browsable resources that help searchers link to the invisible web.

Teach a simple methodology.

Employees who rely on the web for information need to learn a search methodology that is simple and effective. Many Internet trainers teach Boolean search techniques and unusual features of search engines, but most people can't apply those intricate skills to their everyday searching. Trainers need to create and teach a few simple rules - when to use a search engine, and when to use a subject directory site - and then allow the learner to practice what they have learned using relevant and highly illustrative examples.

Paradoxically, search engines are best used for things you already know are on the web. They are far less successful at resource discovery, which is the process of finding best-of-breed web sites in a general topical area.

A simple rule for using search engines is to limit your use of search engines to things you know are on the web already.

A second simple rule is to use subject directories for resource discovery and for finding "invisible web" sources. Yahoo! is probably the best known subject directory, but there are other excellent subject directories, such as Librarians Index to the Internet or the underused, underrated Toronto Public Library Virtual Reference Library. As is the case with all tools that aren't search engines, subject directories are best searched with a browsing approach.

These simple rules can be applied to almost all subject searches. Trainers can devise and test example searches that reinforce these basic rules. Although these rules don't work all the time, learners can deviate from the rules when they feel more comfortable with newly learned concepts.

Choose the right search tools for your learners.

Search tools must be a) easy to use, b) good for many different types of searches, c) link to high quality filtered information, and d) be well organized and preferably browsable. Many people are poor spellers, poor typists, poor selectors of keywords, or a combination of all three. Browsing through a well-constructed subject directory significantly reduces risks of these types of errors.

Good search tools should induce the "wow" factor in training. Learners should be able to easily see just how good these tools are. Typical tools that engage this response are high quality filtered subject directories like Librarians Index. Although subject directories pale in size to search engines (Librarians Index has only about 10,000 links, compared to Google's two billion pages), the quality and organization of information selected is among the best of all English-language web directories.

What are the core skills for teaching web searching?

Because the Internet world is constantly changing, web trainers ought to be both savvy web searchers and current on business trends of search engines. Search engine business partnerships frequently have an impact on how search results are delivered in the first 10 or 20 search results. Trainers need to stay up to date on these important issues.

Trainers also should understand the fundamentals of how to combine concepts using principles of Boolean searching, and how different search engines treat word combinations, case sensitivity and punctuation usage.

In addition to knowledge of seach engines, trainers should be able to explain the differences between search engines like Google, meta-search tools like Dogpile, and subject directories like Librarians Index. Added to this basic list of categories are dozens of top-quality, lesser known but wonderful web search tools that can help you find quick facts, public records, phone numbers from around the world, electronic journals, newspapers, even archives of web sites that no longer exist. Different types of search tools are suitable for different types of searches, and trainers need to help learners figure out when it's appropriate to use one tool over another and how to effectively use each tool.

Where can I get help?

The best place to find information about the web is the web itself. Many colleges and universities have good online tutorials on searching the web. You can upgrade your skills by choosing a few and following the lessons. You can find a helpful list of resources for learning about the Internet and also some resources for trainers at www.workingfaster.com/links.html. A monthly visit to Search Engine Showdown is also a great way to stay up to date on what's new with search engines.

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