See also searching tips

See also the Military Index to the Internet for key topics grouped alphabetically

See also the AWC Military Portal for 200 key links on a single page

Using the Internet Evaluating Internet Sources DoD and Services Government Web Pages University Search Military Bases, People, Pay Embassies & International	Search Engines, General MetaSearch (multi-engine) Invisible Web and non-Web Web Portals & Starting Points People, Companies, & Biographies Dictionaries, Encyc., Etc. Images and Multimedia Samples and Comparisons Other Stuff see also Blogs & Discussion Groups

Using the Internet

• Using the Internet, starting points for teachers, from the Library of Congress

• Internet Primer, local copy of briefing from Naval Postgraduate School

Evaluating Internet Sources

• See also Using and Evaluating Primary Resources

• Evaluating Internet Resources, by U. Albany Libraries

• Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources, UCLA library

• ICYouSee Guide to Critical Thinking About What You See on the Web, from Ithaca College Library
• FAIR's Think Tank Monitor project

• See who links to it - using Google's advanced search page. If "UFO lovers of America" links to it, maybe it's good, maybe not. If SecDef and USAF/CC link to it, then maybe you've found something valid. But keep in mind that even crazy sites can link to respectable material, and even highly regarded organizations can have some links to questionable material.

Military Services and DoD

• CALL Military Domain Search, includes index of .mil-only sites not available to Google and other engines below. However, if you think the file you are looking for might be available to commercial search engines, then try the ones below first. This engine at CALL is very good on comprehensiveness (searches more .mil pages than do public search engines), but the relevancy of results can sometimes be lacking -- i.e., you may have to scroll through a lot of results to find the one you need, unless you come up with a really good set of search terms.

• Statistical Resources on the Web - Military and Defense, U. of Mich.

• Military.com, includes search for military units and people you served with

Searching Government Web Pages

• FirstGov, "your first click to the U.S. Government"
• SciTechResources.gov, government science and technology resources, associated with FirstGov
• Government Printing Office (GPO) search - including all three branches of government

Searching Universities

• Google can be limited to just edu

Military Bases, Education Offices, People, Pay, etc.

• Military Pay Info
• DoD Civilian Pay Info
• DoD Travel Pay Info
• Retirement Pay Info
• DoD Per Diem Rates Info

• Army Units/Bases
• Marine Units/Bases

• See Base and Post Education Centers List

• DoD 101 and Military Basics, including
  • DoD 101 and DoD Almanac
  • Air Force details
  • Army details
  • Navy details
  • Marine Corps details
  • Annual Space Almanac

• Military.com, includes search for military units and people you served with
• Base Links, from Globemaster.de, list of US AF bases, Army air fields, Naval and Coast Guard air stations

Embassies, Travel, & International Studies

• See also AWC Gateway to International Studies, includes military and civilian links, travel medicine, weather, nonverbal communication, etc.

• US Embassies and Consulates
• The Electronic Embassy, guide to Washington, D.C., foreign embassy community
• Foreign Government Resources on the Web, by U. of Mich.
• Library of Congress, Country Studies, all aspects, from historical to cultural to political -- built-in search engine -- recently added the countries of Central Asia, although info often is only as new as 1996

Search Engines, General

• For all search engines, you really should look at the "advanced search" options for getting more power into searches, especially when your initial search yields a gazillion hits, and none look promising.

• Pandia Search Central - consolidated search engine, as well as news about search-related tools, developments, news, etc.
• Pandia list of search tools

• Internet Search Tools from the Library of Congress

• Search Engine Showdown comparison of engines, tips for searching, etc.
• Search Engine Watch comparison of engines, tips for searching, etc.

• Keep in mind that search engines may take several months to pick up new sites. It depends on the order in which their search "bots" tour the Internet, and also on how owners of pages advertise them and notify search engines of them. And if an engine is slow/busy, just go to another. You also should periodically try several to see if they happen to give better results for the types of things you're currently looking for.

  Some General Search Engines

• Google! (http://www.google.com/) was developed by Stanford University students and has been rated by several computer magazines as having the most relevant results. It keys in on sites that "belong" to your search word or phrase -- for example, if you type in "General Motors" you get the GM home page. It especially works well with military and government sites -- especially organizations or systems known by their acronym (such as BMDO).
• 20 Great Google Secrets, PC Magazine

• Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/)

• AltaVista (http://www.altavista.com/) is a comprehensive search engine, but to get the most of it you really need to try out the advanced searches and tips to find those which work best for you.

• Ask (formerly Ask Jeeves) (http://www.ask.com/) can be a quick solution for many of your searches. Type in your question and (usually) quickly get several sources of the answer. So far it's worked for stuff from F-22 pictures, to specific recipes, to flags and rulers of countries.

MetaSearch, Using Multiple Search Engines Simultaneously

• Internet Search Tools from the Library of Congress

• Dogpile, search multiple search engines -- also has categories of searches already done, and can search Usenet news and FTP
• Monster Crawler, metasearch of multiple search engines, web sites, news sites, and ftp
• MetaCrawler, search the search engines -- also has categories of searches already done, and can search Usenet newsgroups

Searching the Invisible Web and non-Web Internet Resources

• Internet Search Tools from the Library of Congress

• Databases, structured files, pages created on-the-fly, and other internet resources may not be indexed by general search engines.

• Profusion.com, from Intelliseek, with info and info sources which search engines often miss

• Deja.com aka Google Groups, search Usenet newsgroups and other forums
• Dogpile, search multiple search engines -- also has categories of searches already done, and can search Usenet news and FTP

Portals and Starting Points

• Air War College Gateway to Internet (http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/awcgate.htm)
  -- including Doctrine and Military Theory
• ANG Conflict 21 site

• Air Force Portal -- you need an account
• Army Knowledge Online, the Army Portal -- you need an account
• Navy Knowledge Portal -- you need an account
• National Guard Knowledge Online -- you need an account

• Internet Search Tools from the Library of Congress

• Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/), the grandaddy of portals
• Google Web Directory
• Open Directory Project, a portal competing with Yahoo!

• My Virtual Reference Desk organizes everything on the internet (news, encyclopedias, weather, history, etc.) in a familiar way, organized into sections that resemble encyclopedias, almanacs, etc. Especially check out First Things First at http://www.refdesk.com/first.html

• Searching the Internet, National Defense University Library ( Local Copy)
  • Evaluating Web Resources, NDU Library ( Local Copy)
  • Reference Websites, NDU Library ( Local Copy)
  • Tutorials, Tools, & Training re: searching the Internet, NDU Library ( Local Copy)
  • List of Search Engines and Internet Catalogs, NDU Library ( Local Copy)
  • Sample Searches on a Variety of Search Engines, NDU Library ( Local Copy)

• AU Research Web
• Web 101, Search Engines Explained, from HotWired (http://www.hotwired.com/webmonkey/guides/web/index.html)
• Military Research on the Internet, by Bird, from Army History magazine -- dated, but still may give you some ideas for searching, especially the non-Web portions of the Net (http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/reference/bird.htm)
• Bibliographies Compiled by AU Library (http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/bibs/bib97.htm)

Finding People and Companies and Biographies

• Air Force White Pages - only available thru AF Portal

• Contact Congress and Other Policymakers, info courtesy EFF

• For both of following you have to put your data in to view others from your unit who may be registered. Read registration info and privacy policies carefully. Only put in what you're comfortable with. But they do offer you a chance to maybe track down a former comrade in arms.
  • Roll Call, from Classmates.com, of people who served with you on a ship, at a base, overseas, etc.
  • Military.com, includes search for military units and people you served with (see People and Community section)

• Yahoo! People Search, e-mail search, phone search, and search of online databases such as court records, licenses, etc.
• Yahoo! Yellow Pages

• Yellow Pages online
• International Yellow Pages

  Biographies

• Air Force Leader Biographies, both active and retired
• Google, just type in the name (ex. General Michael Ryan ) of the active or retired AF general officer, sometimes need to put general in front of name, usually pretty cotton pickin' fast
• Other Biography sources, on the AWC Gateway reference page

Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Style, Grammar, Etc.

• Britannica.com, online encyclopedia
• Merriam-Webster OnLine, dictionary and thesaurus
• Acronym Finder - & spells 'em out
• Internet Public Library

• Air University Style Guide for Writers and Editors
• Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr.
• Guide to Grammar and Writing
• Writer's Handbook: APA Documentation Style, Univ. of Wisconsin

• AWC Gateway to References, Online and Off, including service pubs, magazines, style guides, speeches, etc.
• AWC Gateway to Communications, including speaking and writing tools

Images and Multimedia

• Google's Image Search Engine

• altavista

• Movie Info and Reviews
  • Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
  • Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews and Previews
  • Kids-in-Mind

• See also Image Sources Online and Multimedia Resources (maps, clip-art, etc.)

Samples and Comparisons

• Google - most relevant results
• CALL .. vs .. Google
• Google Image Search
• UncleSam - just GOV and MIL
• Teoma - extra feature is the list of collections of links on the topic
• Tip to Narrow Search

Other Stuff

• Internet Search Tools from the Library of Congress

• Bibliographies Compiled by AU Library (http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/bibs/bib97.htm)

• Internet Public Library

• SearcheBooks.com, search for electronic texts online
• Free eBook Library, for Microsoft Reader and Palm, from U. of Va. Library

• City and Zip Lookup, put in zip code and get city ... or put in city and get zips

• Toast.net - with internet speed test to check your connecting speed

• Narrowing your search
  In Google you can type terrorism site:osd.mil to search for terrorism on all sites ending with osd.mil . Most search engines have a similar feature for searching a site where you just know the document is there, but you can't find it listed or by using the site's built-in search engine.

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