John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints
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Site Structure - Some Hints For Finding Information On This Site
USA and Canada Holiday Hints forms one part of my overall web site.
The Two Main Index Pages
Within USA and Canada Holiday Hints there are two main index pages which will normally be your starting points for finding an individual page:
- State, Province and Territory Index - This index leads to separate index pages for each state, province and territory.
- Subject Index - This index is the gateway to the index pages for the National Parks, National Monuments and so on, and also to information on various topics including car rental, driving, motels and restaurants. To increase the chances of finding what you are looking for, many subjects appear more than once in the subject index under their various possible names.
Search Examples
Example One:
- You are looking for information about the Black Canyon Of The Gunnison. You know that it is in Colorado but you're not sure if it's a National Park, a National Monument, a National Forest area, a National Recreation Area, a Bureau Of Land Management Area or a State Park.
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Solution:
- Go to the State, Province and Territory index.
- To go to the Colorado index, select Colorado.
- On the Colorado index page, select Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park. (A few years ago the Black Canyon Of The Gunnison was upgraded in status from a National Monument to a National Park.)
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Example Two:
- You are looking for information about Zion National Park but you're not sure which state it lies in.
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Solution:
- Go to the Subject index.
- To go to the National Parks index, select National Parks.
- On the National Parks index page, select Zion National Park, Utah.
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Example Three:
- You are planning to visit British Columbia but at this stage you don't know what there is to see there and want to explore the possibilities.
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Solution:
- Go to the State, Province and Territory index.
- To go to the British Columbia index, select British Columbia (in the Canada column).
- On the British Columbia index page, select each of the places which you think might interest you.
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Example Four:
- As a visitor to the USA from Britain, you have heard about "Four Way Stops" and want to find out what they are and how they work.
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Solution:
- Go to the Subject index.
- To go to the Driving index, select Driving In The USA And Canada.
- On the Driving index page, select Four Way Stops.
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Some Other Useful Index Pages
If you can't find what you're looking for using the two main index pages, then try these pages:
- Checklist Of Actions To Take - before booking, before departure, at the airport, while picking up a rental car, etc. This page also acts as a summary of essential hints with links to pages which offer more detailed information.
- State and Region Name Index - for region names such as Delmarva, the Four Corners and New England.
- USA - General Index - for features which extend over two or more American states, such as the Great River Road.
- Canada - General Index - for features which extend over two or more Canadian Provinces or Territories, such as the Canadian Shield.
The Overall Index
The overall index lists all places and subjects. It is a large file (210KB).
Since I produce the overall index automatically by means of a computer program, it includes some duplicate entries, especially for places which lie in more than one state and subjects which fall into more than one category.
The overall index is designed for use when you can't find what you need in the two main indexes, for example if you are looking for information about a place and don't know anything about it other than its name. Because it is such a large file, the overall index should only be used as a last resort.
Other Links
Near the bottom of every individual page you'll find hypertext links to the Home Page, the State, Province and Territory Index and the Subject Index.
Most individual pages also include links (again, located near the bottom) to their "parent" state, province, territory and/or subject page or pages.
In addition, many individual pages which describe specific places include links to other places "In the Area". Where relevant, these include links to nearby places in adjacent states, provinces or territories.
There are also numerous links within the body of the text on many of the individual pages.
I hope that the site structure is both fairly obvious to understand and also quick, easy and convenient to use. If you have any suggestions as to how it might be improved then please EMail me using the link at the bottom of this page.
Wow - Too Much Information!
This is a large site, with over a thousand pages. Most visitors will only want to explore a small part of it in order to obtain specific information.
If you are looking for a list of essential hints, try the Checklist page. You can always follow the links from there to more detailed information if you wish.
Offline Searching
If you have downloaded pages of this site to your computer, or have a complete copy on CD, then you can use your operating system's built-in search facility. In Windows 9x, use Start > Find > Files or Folders. In the "Named" field enter "*.htm" (without quotes). Browse to the root of the folder tree which contains the files to be searched. Then click the Advanced tab and in the "Containing text" field enter the text you are searching for.
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Most recently modified 19-Apr-02