The Idiot's Guide to Patent Searching

Mary Russell Sarao provides a "Super Easy Guide to Step-By-Step Patent Searching Online!" at http://www.asktheinventors.com/Books/patentsearch.htm. She explains the four basic ways to do an online patent search at the USPTO website with data entry blocks inside her site.

But that's only part of the story. For a more advanced guide to patent searching, go to http://ip-updates.blogspot.com/2004/07/patent-searching-in-product.html