Learning Internet Basics:
Some Search Engines, Portals, and Reference Sites

Go to a list of internet tutorials.

Once you have learned the basics of using your browser, clicking on links, and navigating through web pages, you may want to practice with some of the sites below. These sites are just a very few examples of the different types of information you can find on the internet -- there are many other useful sites that you will start to discover for yourself. Also, see the links at the top and bottom of this page, that lead you a page of tutorials about the internet. Search Engines Google A fast-loading site which can be very good at presenting the most useful search results first. NorthernLight Indexes a lot of pages. Tries to organize results into subfolders based on similarity. AltaVista A good general-purpose search engine with many indexed pages. Finding Web Pages in Other Languages or From Other Countries You can use the search engines to find pages in other languages, and from other countries, especially by doing a search in that language. For example, if you are looking for 'newspapers in spanish', you might try doing a search for 'españoles periódicos'. Many search engines will also let you do a search for web pages written only in a particular language. Translation You can do translation from one language to another at this Altavista page. Portals Portals, or "start pages", try to provide everything a user needs in one place, including customizable ways to get news, weather, go shopping, search, etc. (To get the customization features, you typically have to register). Yahoo My Netscape Excite Lycos News Sites CNN The New York Times BBC Online An international perspective on the news. Maps Find the location of intersections or addresses in both the U.S. and other countries. Mapblast Mapquest Yahoo! Maps Information about Austin Austin 360 A good starting point for all sorts of links about austin: events, movies, restaurants, jobs, city info,... The Austin-American Statesman The Austin Chronicle Austin City Connection A page maintained by the city of Austin. Reference Sites Merriam-Webster A dictionary and thesaurus. The CIA World Factbook A good way to look up information about other countries. Austin Public Library Reference Links Useful links compiled by the Austin Public Library UT Library Quick Reference A great list of all sorts of useful references. (There are a few links marked "UT Austin Users" that will only work for UT students). Locating People, and Yellow and White Pages Yahoo! People WhoWhere Switchboard

Go to a list of internet tutorials.