How can I improve my internet researching?
I'm quite experienced so an advanced level answer is what I'm
expecting.

Questions that might help:
* Any good books on the topic I should read?
* Any special tricks that you Google researchers feel are especially
helpful?
    * Why are you Google researchers "better" than others. What do you
know
      that we don't?
* Any organizations, news groups, mailing lists that are key to
becoming a ragingly good researcher?
* Any smart google APIs out there yet that enhances the search
experience for experts?

I currently use things such as:
*Vivisimo.com  
*Googlism.com 
*Google groups

Books on searching the web;
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/091096551X/ref%3Dnosim/pandiainternetse/002-7173813-5394414
 The Invisible Web: Uncovering Information Sources Search Engines
Can't See

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596004478/ref%3Dnosim/pandiainternetse/002-7173813-5394414
Google Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1889150290/ref%3Dnosim/pandiainternetse/002-7173813-5394414
Find it Online: The Complete Guide to Online Research, Third Edition

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0910965471/ref%3Dnosim/pandiainternetse/002-7173813-5394414
The Extreme Searcher's Guide to Web Search Engines

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/156243831X/ref%3Dnosim/pandiainternetse/002-7173813-5394414
Advanced Internet Research One-Day Course

Tips and tricks:
http://www.pandia.com/people/
Find email addresses, phone number, and addresses

http://www.wisenut.com/
http://www.pandia.com/post/post-010.html#wisenut (WiseNut -- the new
Google?)
http://www.researchbuzz.com/news/index.shtml
Newsletter available for Information experts, researchers and
librarians.
http://resourceshelf.blogspot.com/
Resources and News for Information Professionals

http://www.virtualchase.com/howto/index.html
The Virtual Chase: Legal Research on the Internet

http://www.virtualchase.com/researchskills/quick_search3.html
The importance of having a search plan

http://www.pandia.com/q-cards/index.html
Advanced search query syntax and rules

http://www.invisibleweb.com/
The invisible web

http://www.leidenuniv.nl/ub/biv/specials.htm
A collection of special search engines


http://searchpdf2.adobe.com:9000/cgi-bin/query?mss=simple&q=internet+searching&x=0&y=0
Adobe’s search engine for PDF files on the web
(for example this is showing all the PDF’s found for the query
“internet searching”)

http://www.pandia.com/powersearch/index.html#specialized
Tools for specialized searching

http://search.fedstats.gov/
Use words or phrases to search for statistics from more than 70
Federal statistical agencies.

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/BeyondWeb.html
Beyond General World Wide Web Searching

Forums, mailing lists ect:
http://resource-zone.com/ubbthreads.php
dmoz open directory project: A Public Forum Sponsored and Moderated by
ODP Editors

http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum17/

http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/Searching/Mailing_Lists_and_Newsletters/
Mailing Lists and Newsletters

http://scout.wisc.edu/report/sr/srsubscribe.html
“The Scout Report is one of the Internet's longest-running weekly
publications, offering a selection of new and newly discovered online
resources of interest to researchers, educators, and anyone else with
an interest in high-quality online material.”

Other links of interest:
http://www.virtualchase.com/researchskills/basic_skills3.html
The difference between “Research” and “Searching”

http://www.notess.com/search/
Search engine showdown

http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/internet/research.htm
Research On The Net Planning Your Research Project

http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Searching/Search_Engines/Google/Tools/
dmoz results for Computers: Internet: Searching: Search Engines:
Google: Tools (a variety of google related API’s)

http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Searching/Search_Engines/Google/Research_Papers/
Google research papers

http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Searching/Search_Engines/Google/Web_APIs/
Google web API’s



And as for your question “Why are you Google researchers "better" than
others. What do you know that we don't?”
Here is what Google has to say about their researchers skills and how
they are chosen (http://answers.google.com/answers/faq.html#who)

Personally I don’t think that GA researchers are better than anyone
else. The skills, which we use, are learned ones; therefore attaining
such skills can be accomplished by anyone who is willing to learn
them.
I think that most of the GA researchers here have always had a
tendency to be inquisitive by nature, which possibly might make us a
little more resourceful and innovative when it comes to our searching
for information. I think tenacity also has a lot to do with it. To
keep digging for an answer, when most people throw in the towel is
part of
what makes any researcher a good one. Unfortunately this tenacious
attitude also has a few unwanted side affects as well. Such as staying
awake all night trying to think of a new way to search for some
obscure song title. Another unfortunate side affect is what I like to
call “dreaming in google”, where you have spent so much time searching
for a subject, that you are still searching for it in your dreams,
(for those of you who have ever dreamt of tetris after playing it for
prolonged periods, will know what I mean
http://www.msnbc.com/news/474748.asp?cp1=1)

But for the most part, when it comes to being a super researcher, I
think that it’s mostly trial and error.
“Success, simply put, is knowing what doesn’t work, and the
application of what does.”
And to learn what does and doesn’t work, of course is going to take
time, lots and lots of practice, and tons of patience.
I think it’s also important to know when to walk away. Sometimes it
takes a change of scenery, or a well deserved break in order to gain
new insight on a particular subject.
And remember, anything and anyone can be viewed as a potential
resource for information!

If you have any questions about the information that I have provided,
feel free to request a clarification of my answer, and please allow
enough time for me to respond before rating the answer.

Thanks so much and best of luck to you!
chellphill-ga

like what I see :)

To answer the part of your question that reads "Why are you Google
researchers "better" than others. What do you know that we don't?", I
would have to say that though all of us are well versed in internet
research skills, what sets us apart from the average person is the
simple fact that there are very many of us, each with different
specific skills with which to draw upon. One particular subject may be
very hard for any particular one of us chosen at random, but it is
very likely that one of us has some knowledge of the subject matter
that will help speed the answering of any given question.

Some Matrix-like advice:

Believe you can find it.  Then you can find it.

Well, that isn't always true, but I think that many people don't
believe enough in themselves.  They give up too quickly.  Sometimes
just the smallest change in a search strategy -- looking at one more
page of the results, spelling a word differently, adding a term that
narrows down the search, using a different search engine, etc. --
makes all the difference.  Sometimes a larger change in strategy might
be necessary, but it is still within many people's abilities.

Of course, sometimes people don't have the time, patience, or
knowledge of a topic (or of a language, especially if it is not the
person's first language) to complete a search successfully.  That's
where Google Answers can be useful.  There are bound to be times when
it is better to rely on a group of experienced researchers who know a
wide variety of topics, as funkywizard has suggested.

Hi Omni,

I think to make a good researcher, your mother has to be a bloodhound
and your father a bulldog. ;-)

Here are some links I pulled out of my bag of tricks for you:

Lookoff:
http://www.lookoff.com/tips

Knowledgehound:
http://www.knowledgehound.com/topics/searchin.htm

Cybrarians Rest Stop:
http://www.thelearningsite.net/cyberlibrarian/elibraries/cybecurr.html

Wilton Library:
http://www.wiltonlibrary.org/innovate.html

RefDesk:
http://www.refdesk.com

CT on the Web:
http://www.philosophy.unimelb.edu.au/reason/critical

Internet Tutorials:
http://library.albany.edu/internet

Statistical Resources on the Web:
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/statsnew.html

Digital Librarian:
http://www.digital-librarian.com

Fravia:
http://www.searchlores.org

AoIR:
http://aoir.org/resources.html

Enjoy!
V

im not a researcher but when i want to find something eighty percent
of the time i get it. All you need is time!!! i cant stress this
enough, if your getting paid to do it thats fine. for example the
google researchers, they can get up to $100 so they can spend all the
time in the world looking for the answer. Its like a proffesion, the
more time you put into it the more money you get out of it. Can i just
say that if you are not interested in making the money, dont bother
doing it. Unless ofcourse its for your own question... The borrom line
is it all takes time... Im sure you could find out who the creator of
the universe was if you had enough time, but there are some question
that are not worth finding out the answers too...

I know this doesnt really help but they are my opinions and I like to
voice them... later