Don’t just Google–cast a wider net. Google, during its relatively short life (started in September 1998 but only became up and running in mid-1999), has become the generic term for Internet web searches–much like Kleenex and Xerox for paper tissues and photocopying. One "Googles," the verb, or does a "Google," the noun. Google’s progress has been amazing inasmuch as there were a number of search engines in business when it was born–among which were Lycos, Alta Vista, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, HotBot. Yet, it has become the king of the mountain, apparently because of its wider reach for information being sought than the others.

But, as good as Google is, you don’t have to use it exclusively. Use "Webcrawler," whose website address is www.webcrawler.com. It simultaneously searches Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask Jeeves, and several others.

Recently, my daughter, while using one of the non-Google search engines, discovered a review of a book I had written in 1993. The book was Insurance in the United States: A Handbook for Professionals, which was published and marketed by a small London-based publisher of newsletters and books dealing with the international insurance market. (That publisher was acquired by Lloyd’s of London Press in 1995, who continued the publication and marketing of the book at that point.)

What my daughter found was a review in 1994 of my book in an insurance industry trade journal by a professor of insurance and finance at Illinois State University. Although I had seen several reviews of the book in US, British, and Spanish trade journals, I was unaware of this one. Through Webcrawler, I picked it up in Ask Jeeves (Google had never carried it).

So, as Yogi Berra might say, if you expand your vision, you’ll see further.