The document provides tips and resources for conducting effective online searches and research. It recommends knowing your goals, available sources, and limits before searching. It also suggests using advanced search features like phrases, Boolean logic, and filtering by domain or file type. The document lists specific search engines, databases, and tools that can help locate public records, government data, social media information, and perform reverse lookups, people searches, and investigations into websites, emails, and backgrounds.

2.  Strategy
 Know what you’re after
 Know what is available
 Know when enough is enough
 Be a smarter searcher
 Be skeptical – treat each online source just as you
would any other

4.  Advanced search
 Search for phrases
 Use Boolean logic
 By domain or site
 By file type
 Words in URL

5. • No one knows for sure, but estimates are that
Google searches far less than half of what’s
available on the Web – maybe a small fraction.
• Each search engine has its own strengths and
weaknesses.
• Total shared results of any two search engines: 8.9
percent.
• Any three search engines: 2.2 percent
Source: 2007 study by Dogpile, Penn State and Queensland University of Technology

6. • Alltheweb.com (advanced search options)
• Ask.com (Subject-Specific Popularity™)
• Clusty.com (clustered results)
• Yahoo! (directory)
• Jux2 (Multiple search site results returned)
• Bing
• Twingine (side-by-side results)

7.  Wikipedia (for links, sources only)
 Census (esp. Data Finders feature)
 Public records portals
• BRB Publications
• Portico

8.  NICAR Net tour
 Reporter’s Desktop by Duff Wilson

9.  FedStats - Portal to government statistics.
 FirstGov - Portal to federal and local
governments.
 Federal spending
 USASpending – search and download federal
contracts, grants and more.

10.  The Visible Web (“Surface Web”) is made up
of the typical results in search engines.
 The Invisible Web (“Deep Web”) includes
searchable databases / dynamic content.
 Some estimate the Invisible Web is 550 times
bigger than the Visible Web.
 Google says more than 1,000 federal
government sites can’t be “crawled.”

11.  Facebook
 Pipl
 123people
 SocialMention
 Whostalkin
 Samepoint
 Icerocket
 PeekYou

12.  Search engine cache (Google, Bing)
 Wayback Machine
 CyberCemetery – sites of defunct government
agencies and commissions
 Yahoo Site Explorer

13.  Domain searches reveal all.
 Domain Tools http://www.domaintools.com
 Allwhois http://www.allwhois.com
 Quarkbase

14.  Find the location:
 Find IP: “Show original” or “View source” of the
email.
 Lookup IP: Whois
 Reverse email searches:
 Facebook
 People searches:
 Pipl, spokeo
 Check usernames at Knowem

15.  Salaries, travel: www.legistorm.com
 Cash and votes: www.maplight.org
 Federal: www.opensecrets.org
 From the source: www.fec.gov

16.  990s –What all 501(c)3 organizations that
have more than $25,000 in annual revenue
must file with the IRS.
 Churches are exempt.
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