Searching is a skill of learning.  It is the ability to find something that you need.  It may be something simple and easy, or it may be the next big discovery.  When Search Engines first came out, I remember it was hard to find things.  Information was not organized very well and it would take a long time looking at several websites to find the right information.

Several things have helped me to find the information I needed.

1. The internet has more and in many cases better content.
   • As people have become more familiar with the internet and as more people have gained access to the internet, more minds are involved in creating more content.  Statistically speaking, the more content, hopefully the more percentage that is useful.  The hard part then is sifting through more un-useful content.  This leads me to the next thing that helps
2. Search Engines themselves have gotten significantly better and more useful.  
   • We are now to the point that social searching with Google’s +1 allows searchers to help their friends find useful content by recommendations. Search Engines also have used their vast amount of existing knowledge on what helps and doesn’t seem to help people in their sea to enhance their algorithms in sorting search queries.
3. The internet is more accessible.  
   • Until I got into college, the internet that came to my home was slow and expensive, so we rarely had it.  I was able to access the internet at schools and libraries, but that was only occasionally.  Now with smartphones and faster and cheaper internet connections, many people are able to have internet accessible 24/7 at speeds amazingly faster than they were even 10 years ago.  Also computers and mobile devices are more and more obtainable.
4. I have learned better searching techniques.
   • It is difficult to search for things many times because of the terminology used in areas that I am unfamiliar with.  Searching becomes increasingly more effective for me if I do know the wording people in that field would use.  As my vocabulary increases, I am able to find more applicable information.  Much of this come just by trial and error.  We learn by doing, not by just sitting waiting for a magical understanding.

So what does this mean to us?

We need to get up and learn.  We probably have the greatest opportunities in the history of the world right now.  We are able to learn at our own pace and many of the tools are free.  People can still go to local schools and libraries to access computers and internet.  We also need to contribute our part and our knowledge into helping others.  Open Source ideas typically grow exponentially by many people contributing small bits of their knowledge.

The Question:

“What will you contribute?”