Save steps in your Internet search by enhancing your browser (e.g., Internet Explorer) with one or more add-on toolbars. The main search engines offer free downloadable toolbars, which install just under your browser’s main toolbar. If you want to search on Google for example, you don’t have to go to google.com first. Just type your search words into the box on the Google toolbar, and the results display on a regular Google search page. The add-on toolbars do more than just save you the hassle of going to a search engine’s homepage. They have other features, including popup blockers, ad blockers, anti-spyware, breaking news, dictionaries, and phonebooks.
Most toolbars are designed for the latest version of Windows Internet Explorer. You can download as many as you like, but the more you have at the top of your browser window, the less space there is for actual web-page content. Here are some useful add-on toolbars:

• Google Toolbar http://toolbar.google.com/
• Yahoo! Companion (also available for Firefox browser) http://companion.yahoo.com/
• MSN Toolbar http://toolbar.msn.com/
• Dogpile Toolbar www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/tbar/
• Vivisimo Toolbar http://vivisimo.com/toolbar/toolbar-download.html
• AskJeeves Search Bar http://sp.ask.com/docs/download/

Other toolbars:

• Advanced Search Bar http://www.advancedsearchbar.com/ Allows you to search up to 144 different search engines.
• Answers.com toolbar http://www.answers.com/main /product_info.jsp Puts dozens of reference materials at your fingertips.

Not using Internet Explorer?

If you are using a browser other than IE, there are many comparable add-ons available:

• Googlebar for Mozilla, Netscape and Firefox http://googlebar.mozdev.org/ Looks and functions much like the Google toolbar for IE. Safari for Mac has a Google search window built in to the browser’s main toolbar.
• Yahoo! Companion (see above)
• The A9 Toolbar from Amazon is available for IE, Firefox and Netscape. http://toolbar.a9.com/. In addition to the functions of other toolbars, A9 allows you to store bookmarks and notes online.

Firefox plug-ins and extensions

The main toolbar of the new Firefox browser has a search box with a drop-down menu, where you can elect to search Google, Yahoo and other search engines. You can add more search engines to this list by clicking on “add engines” in the drop-down menu.

Firefox can also be customized with dozens of “extensions,” including an ad blocker, cookie manager, image zoom, dictionary lookup, print preview, RSS readers and many others. To download these, click on Extensions under the Tools menu of the Firefox browser.

Pauline Wallin conducts teleclasses (for 6 CE credits) on Internet techniques. For details visit www.drwallin.com/internetguide.html

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