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Efficiency through browser shortcuts
I was giving a presentation the other day and wanted to get to my Favorites. Instead of using my mouse, I used the "Control-I" shortcut. A member of the audience asked what I did, and I explained the shortcut. No one in the audience was aware of it. I then asked who used the "Control-F" shortcut to find a word instead of scrolling through the pages of a website. I was happy to see that more than half the audience answered affirmatively.
We then took a little training detour and reviewed some other browser shortcuts. Using shortcuts won't save the searcher an enormous amount of time, but can still prove helpful. In addition to the commands above, I regularly use "Control-D" to add a website to my Favorites. Another worth mentioning is "Alt-D" to quickly return your cursor to the URL window (so that a new web address can be entered). During presentations, I rely on "Control-Scroll wheel" (the middle wheel on your mouse) which changes the size of the text on the monitor.
Now, some of these tips work in all browsers (eg. IE7, FireFox), however, variations exist. Best thing to do is check out the shortcut guide for your specific browser. Check here for Internet Explorer, here for FireFox, or here for Safari. A summary of shortcuts can be found at About.com Web Browsers.
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