after reading a boston globe article today, where/how is the best way
to access all information on myself?  Am I doing the proper search
just by putting my name in the search area?

Hi there,

That's a good question. So many articles have pointed out how easy it
is to get the dirt on someone via Google (or other good search
engines), without explaining some simple tricks that can make the
search work better.

You need to let Google know that you are looking for a phrase, by
surrounding the name with "quotes". And you need to think of every
possible way the name might appear on a web page. I suggest searching
for the name using this many variations:

"J Bloggs"
"Joe Bloggs"
"Joe C. Bloggs"
"Joe Casper Bloggs"
"Bloggs, J"
"Bloggs, Joe"
"Bloggs, Joe C"
"Bloggs, Joe Casper"

And do the same using any other variations the first name could have,
like Mike instead of Michael. Also for a female, use their married
name as well as birth name.

For each Google search, also click on the Groups tab to see if any
Usenet postings mention the name.

Don't just use Google. AlltheWeb ( http://www.alltheweb.com ) has
indexed many websites that Google has not (and vice versa).

Finally, be aware that there is a lot of publicly available
information on the Internet which can not be found using Google.
Mostly these are databases. A good introduction to the type of
information the "Invisible Web" contains can be found at:
http://www.invisible-web.net/database.html?sub_category_selected=Public+Records&category_selected=Public+Records


Search strategy: personal experience

Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga

Great answer.  The articles make things seem so easy. 
Robertskelton-ga gave me exactly the answer I was looking for. 
Apparently, and happily, I have very little dirt out there about
myself!

As a long time researcher, both on the internet and off, I'd like to
add something to your very good answer. I, too, have seen several
articles about all the info one can dig up on themselves or others.
Most people really aren't that newsworthy to begin with, and so there
just may not be anything on them out there. If you've had your name in
the paper, then there might be a link to an online addition of that
article. If you have a website, there may be a link there as well. If
you're part of an organization that lists their roster on a website,
you may find yourself there as well. For most of us, there will be no
info. Those articles make it seem as if everyone's history is online,
and that's simply not the case. I research a lot of missing person's
cases, cases where folks have simply lost touch and want to reconnect,
and if it was that easy to find info, I would be much more successful
than I am.

There are a lot of databases online, but you have to know where to
look to find them, as their contents are generally not trolled by the
Google bots. There are phone directories and birth, death,
divorce,marriage,real estate, court, and other indexes, but not for
every state or county. It's all very piecemeal.

So, for the average Joe Schmoe (no offense to the real Joe Schmoe),
you will find little if anything on Google or any of the other search
engines. You would probably find some stuff on databases, but because
many databases are culled from other sources, there's a good chance
the info is out of date.

Thanks to those commented.  I very much appreciate it.  Your time is
appreciated. - Kit Kat