For my search, I decided to narrow the search via the phrase "Virginia Quaker." As with any search, some of the results were not what I was looking for-in my search at Alta Vista I found a few personal home pages of families in which I was not interested (however, it's a good idea to check the list of links on such a site-many people provide a list of pages with related topics). I did find a page that featured information on Southern Quakers, complete with a list of online sources of information for a number of states, including Virginia. A bibliography of Virginia Quaker books was also found, and gave me ideas of books to seek via Interlibrary Loan.

Your search technique comes into play here-if you are unfamiliar with conducting an in-depth online search, take the time to learn how to use the advanced features of your favorite search engine. If you don't have much luck with one search engine, try others! I once scoured the net for medical information about people who have differently-colored eyes without knowing the medical term (heterochromia irides, just in case you are ever asked this in a game of Trivial Pursuit) and found it mentioned only on a few search engines. Persistence is a virtue where online research is concerned.

When starting a new search, I find it beneficial to first create a research folder for bookmarks related to that subject. After a quick visit, if the site looks interesting to me, I file a bookmark for it under the research folder. Once I feel I have located enough sites, I go back through the bookmarks and peruse the sites for details and specifics, eliminating those sites that don't have a lot to offer or interest me.

There are two reasons for bookmarking interesting sites without looking at them: I don't want to become bogged down by spending the time needed to search each newly-discovered site with a fine-toothed comb, and yet I want to save a "roadmap" of where I've been and what sites I've already encountered. You may want to approach this "gathering in" period differently-whether or not you want to conduct a thorough search of each site as you find them is up to you.