Searching

If you don't have a favorite search engine then experiment. Try a straight forward search--for example, "basset hounds"--in each of the engines available to you. Note: most search engines treat keywords within quotations as a single phrase rather than separate words to find. Without the quotation marks the search looks for sites with either basset or hounds.

If your subject is more nebulous than "basset hounds" and your results seem tangential or non-existent definitely investigate associated "search tips" and "advanced searching" help screens to refine your search. On the other hand, if you are overwhelmed with the sheer number of sites, you may be very lucky or you may want to narrow your search.

Search engines supposedly rank sites, presenting the most "relevant" first. Relevance is determined, in most cases, by the position and frequency of occurrence of the search word in the retrieved document.  In an unscientific "basset hounds" search in Netscape Navigator,  I queried the following engines to see if three "classic" basset sites--the Basset Hound Club of America (BHCA),  Basset-L--the number one listserv, and the Daily Drool (DD)--were listed in the first 20 hits. I also was looking for the total number of hits and the quality (for example, the number of duplicate sites or dubious commercial sites) of the first 20.

As the above chart shows, the results vary greatly depending upon the search engine used.  Being an inveterate Yahoo searcher, it never would have occurred to me to use Looksmart but I'll be using it now.

For a quick search which limits your results but "guarantees" quality results try the Mining Co.: http://www.miningco.com/.  Search on the alphabetical listing of guides by subject to retrieve pre-selected lists chosen by "professional expert guides." Although it has no "basset hound" list, its "dogs" list is a nice balance of entertainment and information, plus it's always fun to read the--highly personalized--annual top 10 sites awards in the category of your choice.

Links, Rings, and Bookmarks

Sites with really great and functioning links are always useful (there's nothing worse than an impressive list of "favorite links" of which none actually links). And if you're fortunate enough to have found a "ring" of similarly obsessed web users, the links to ring members' pages are established for you. Check the WebRing Index for over 600 subject specific rings:  http://www.webring.org/.  Once you're in the ring,  just click on the next--or the next five--or the next random site--button. Or you can check the list of ring members by clicking on Index on the WebRing site and do your own choosing. Don't forget to bookmark and if need be to organize your bookmarks according to your needs. For example, I organize my visuals, web graphics, text and FAQs pages in separate files. This can be an important frustration-reducer and time-saver if you are a heavy duty bookmarker.  

Sorting the Sites

Begin by identifying the source of the site--an easy way to identify its "potential" quality.   Other things you might look at when evaluating a page's usefulness are the date of last update, number of site visitors, and ease of navigation.  Generally,  I categorize sites in the following way.

Official sites:  There is no guarantee that an official body has created a particularly snazzy or even useful site, but they are usually a good source for names, addresses and phone numbers.  Beware, a lot of sites are called "official" without actually being the "official" anything. I know that the American Kennel Club:  http://www.akc.org and the Basset Hound Club of America:  http://www.basset-bhca.org are official but there are also three--so far--"official" basset hound pages, one of which is maintained by a breeder hawking puppies.

Specialized sites:  I think of these sites as the ones I find by randomly clicking on "favorite links" buttons. The quality (timeliness, usefulness, and appearance) of these sites runs the gamut from "why bother" to gorgeous and there's no way of knowing before hand (that's why it's called "nosing around").
This is how I found out that my basset hound ranks 71st out of 79 on the obedience I.Q. test (why am I not surprised): http://www.petrix.com/dogint/index.html  and where I go for e-cards:  http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/6785/cards.html.
 

Commercial sites:  If security (personal and financial) is a concern, and it should be, then make sure the site has secure server software (SSL) which encrypts all information you input before it's sent. Secure sites also protect stored customer data from unauthorized access.  Always offer personal and financial information with caution. On a more positive note, commercial sites may not maintain a presence on the web solely to sell you a product. In many instances, a company has the money and staff to create really useful and attractive sites as is the case with the Purina Dog Chow site, Village Pets:  http://www.ivillage.com/pets/.

Aside from standard commercial sites such as the ubiquitous Amazon.com's satellite site, Dogbooks: http://www.dogbooks.com, and e-versions of print materials such as Foster & Smith's mail order catalog: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/ ,  you may also find unique gifts:  http://www.fuzzyfaces.com/  and oddball sites such as Selling Dog Food as a Career:  http://www.petrix.com/$$$/usa/ .  And for the adventurous, don't forget the very "hot" online auction sites such as http://www.ebay.com/.

E-mail/chat sites: Chat rooms, where you exchange messages in real-time: http://www.doginfomat.com/chats/alphadog.htm, news groups, where messages are posted after they are composed, and lists of e-mail lists:http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/  can be very useful if you are looking to interact on the web.  I received lots of pertinent advice from fellow basset owners when  I joined the basset devotees listserv:  http://www.execpc.com/~dlderf/basset-l .  Breeders, vets, rescue people, as well as plain old dog owners, exchange information about everything from behavioral problems and nutrition to annual basset "waddles" such as the one featured in the May 1997 issue of Life magazine. It was on the Basset-L that I learned--from a vet--that very few vets know anything about basset anatomy, and that 99 out of 100 will misdiagnose hip problems in the hound (as did mine).

Personal sites:  I separate personal sites into 2 categories:  1) human sites that have pictures of hounds; and  2) sites purportedly written and maintained by bassets (no one ever said we were sane) that have stories about and pictures of hounds. Generally, I use these sites to find pictures for wallpaper, to compare other owner's hounds--usually unfavorably--with my own, and to read about how really badly behaved all bassets are. In many instances, it's not transparent from the URLs which sites are necessarily "personal" pages (lots are .edu-based, for instance) so I generally take a random peek and bookmark appealing pages for further leisure time perusing. Personal pages can also be another rich source of elusive but excellent links.

Tool Sites:  For the truly compulsive there are subject-specific sites for your own computer's screen savers, wallpaper, cursors, etc.: http://www.animalbytes.simplenet.com/dogs/index.htm
and graphics for personal home pages (the providers of the animated graphic above): http://www.dailydrool.com/graphics.html.

Conclusion

For those interested in the 21st most popular dog breed in the U.S. as well as dogs in general,  I'll conclude with my Top Five Dog (starring the basset hound)  Sites. I should note that I didn't find the number one site until a year after I started searching, a reminder that you may have to dig deepest for the gold.

5. The Daily Drool: http://www.dailydrool.com

The Daily Drool debuted in August 1994 as the first all basset internet discussion list.  It also supports a chat room, Drool Chat, on Sunday and Thursday nights from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.  It's worth a look for the name alone but another nice thing about it is that books can be ordered from the page through Amazon.com and a percentage of the proceeds will go to support member basset rescue organizations--a very common practice with dog-centered sites. In addition, there are links to gifts for hound owners, personal home pages (howling encouraged), recipes for basset treats and a special, two hanky "Rainbow Bridge" link for owners who wish to commemorate the loss of a favorite hound.

4. Boswell's Life of Boswell: http://www.basset.net/bostop.html

The complete text, illustrations and all, of a wonderful 1958 book (now out-of-print) about a hound named Boswell.

3. B.H. Cares: http://www.idis.com/target/basset/

The rescue organization B.H. Cares' site gives excellent information on how and where to adopt an orphaned basset.

2. The Older Dog:  http://www.srdogs.com

Devoted to the special needs of the senior dog.  There's also a site with pet loss hotlines sponsored by the American Veterinary Medicine Association: http://www.avma.org/care4pets/avmaloss.htm

1. The Number 1 site for dog lovers: http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/

Fabulous source for all things canine including everything from the treatment of human allergies to coping with new puppies.  It has a huge list of excellent links, and an A-1 FAQs page produced and maintained by Cindy Tittle Moore, one of the first web mavens.

And finally, what's really important. For those of you who would like to contribute a "resources on the web" piece to ACCESS,  remember that the choice of graphics is completely up to the author which is why I'm concluding this piece with a picture of my hound,  Maisie B. Arruda.