Most of us with a computer are now on the Internet. But once you’re there, do you have trouble locating the information you need?

The most popular way to find information is by using a search engine. You’ve heard the term, but just what is it? It is a database compiled of short descriptions of websites. These databases can be general purpose, or geared towards one type of information such as scientific sites only.

Yahoo’s listings are reviewed and entered by hand, which means quality leads. However, they do not accept every site submitted, therefore they are not very comprehensive. Since everything is done manually, some results are stale and bad links are common. If you want flavorful sites, go to yahoo. If you want complete results, try another site.

Northernlight not only gives you a list of results, it categorizes the information into folders you can browse through. The biggest plus is that it weeds out the irrelevant results for you. Windows users will like the interface.

Lycos is one of the fastest search engines. It scans for websites first, with related news articles listed last.

They have done a fine job reducing the all-to-common problem of results not pertaining to your query.

Hotbot returns featured listings and search partners first, whether they are more relevant to your search than other listings or not. However, if you look further down the page, you’ll find better matches. The results include more personal webpages than commercial sites. It will also suggest related category matches you can browse for related links.

Webcrawler shows the results in single line format, with an option to view a short summary of each. Again, lots of grass roots information that is fresh and unique. Not too many advertisements to distract you, this is one of the plain, simple, and easy to interpret search engines.

Mamma, 7search, and Iwon all perform like a search engine, but they are actually a remote template. They work by searching several search engine’s sites all at the same time. While this will increase the likelihood that you will find what you’re looking for, it may also duplicate results, and keep you from finding more unique matches. At Iwon, every search you perform enters you into a contest to win cash.

Are you looking for interesting sites to visit but aren’t sure exactly what? Try coolsiteoftheday for the original “coolest sites to frequent on the web”. Another venture, Etour can be set up as your homepage.

You select ahead of time categories of interest to you and Etour will randomly select a site every time you open your browser. Another site, toocool.com lists some interesting and useful sites either by category or randomly. There are now millions of sites online, with more arriving every day. Hats off to the search engine site managers and webmasters. They have their hands full trying to make our surfing tasks easier and more fun every day.