Using the Internet to Locate People

Put the Internet to work to find your best friend from kindergarten, a long-lost relative or the roommate who skipped out without paying the phone bill.

1. The person you're looking for may have a personal home page. To find out, simply type the person's first and last names into a Web search engine and view the results.
2. If the person you're looking for is a college student, he or she may have an e-mail account through the school. Visit the school's Web site (usually in the form of www.schoolname.edu) and check the campus directory.
3. The person may have an e-mail account through his or her job. If you know where the person works, visit the company's Web site and use its directory. If the site has no directory, try sending an e-mail message to the person at firstname.lastname@company.com.
4. The person may use the same Internet service provider that you do. Try searching in your ISP's member directory.
5. If none of the above suggestions work, try an online directory Web site.