This is one of the key pages. These tips assume the use of Google.
Specific searches
When looking for something specific, for example google search: Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the Palazzo Pubblico, you can expect to find the important links quickly at the beginning of the 4,000 or so results. For specific searches, use more rather than fewer key words to narrow the results down to fewer relevant sites.
General searches
General research searches are different, for example google search: influences on early Renaissance painting, because even using synonyms (put ~ before a search word) it is never certain that the 'best' results have been unearthed, even in the 950,000 or so results from this search (about 120,000 if the ~ synonym signs are removed). Why? Because 'influences' may not be the word an author used, 'influence', 'effect', 'source', 'basis'... may be there instead. Perhaps 'painting' is not on important pages, for example the influence may come from sculpture or architecture, or none of these may appear. Use a thesaurus if necessary, eg Roget [http://humanities.uchicago.edu/forms_unrest/ROGET.html], to help identify alternative key words. Expect to spend a substantial time looking for what you want, sometimes as much as a couple of hours. A reasonable strategy is to try several combinations of likely key words and inspect the contents of a selection from the first 30 or so results of each search. Follow some of the links in inspected pages to see if they lead on to something useful. Revise the key words in the light of what you find. Use a few key words in each search - generally not more than four and often less - or use OR. After a while, a good combination of key words usually emerges. For an important search, record the successful search string(s) so you can come back later to see if there is anything new.
General search advice
The web is volatile in both content and location (URL) of material. It's safest to print or save anything of value immediately rather than assuming it will still be there next time.
Some experts advise using more than one search engine. Using Google in combination with links from the inspected pages may often be quicker and just as effective.
Google does not support wild cards, eg google search: histor* meaning history, histories, historical... does not work. When required, use OR between the words google search: history OR histories OR historical or use Google's synonym search eg google search: ~history although that gives fewer results, or use a search engine supporting wild cards, eg AltaVista [http://uk.altavista.com/].
On-page searching
Once you have reached an interesting page, it can still be hard to see exactly what you want. Many browsers let you search for words on the current page (Ctrl + F in most browsers). The Google toolbar in IE helps, as the words you have used in your search appear in the toolbar. Clicking them takes you to the next occurrence.
