Smarter Googling – Making Better Use of Google Searches in Economics
Here are some notes and ideas on making better use of Google in delivering the search results you need. I
acknowledge and am grateful for the ideas of Andrew McCarthy (IB Economist in Singapore) in providing the initial
idea for this resource
Google Instant
This innovation is designed to speed up your searching. If you have a Google Mail account then simply make sure
that you are logged in and that Google instant is switched on! Then when you type into the standard Google search
string, instantly some recommended web links will appear underneath this.
Here is an example having typed in “UK economy double dip”
The Google Side Bar
Click on MORE SEARCH TOOLS (shown on the left hand side of the screen shot) this brings the Google Side Bar into
play and this can be useful when searching. The side bar allows you to filter the search for different types of media.
You can search just sites which produce news articles, or only images. This is a first good step to refine your search.
Here is an example – say that I was searching for recent news stories on buffer stocks:
This brings up a selection of recent news articles and looks promising. A good example drawn from newspaper
coverage can add a lot to the quality of your answer because it helps to APPLY some of the economic ideas and
theories that you have been taught.
The Google side bar is also a useful way of refining searches for revision videos on economic topics.
In this case I was looking for a revision video on the economics of price discrimination
Google TimeLine
Google Timeline is an option which allows you analyze how an event evolves
overtime.
The Timeline button is located towards the bottom of the sidebar.
When you search for a specific thing and use the Timeline function, Google will
show dates mentioned in the article.
I will show you two examples.
First when you search for quantitative easing you will see that this is a relatively
new economic concept (although it has been used in the past but under a
different name!). So most news stories on quantitative easing is skewed
towards the last couple of years.
In my second example I have chosen hyperinflation. There is a wider spread of historical references here and this can
be a useful tool for bringing some economic history into your work. Note in the screen shot below that I have clicked
on pages from the UK to narrow my search to UK web sites.
Google WonderWheel
Fans of a mind mapping approach may find the Google WonderWheel a real hit! WonderWheel can be found from
the side bar of the Google search page. To try it I typed in price mechanism into Google and then clicked on
WonderWheel and these results came up. You can refine the search by selecting pages from the UK.
When you click on a new node (see below) it will expand into a new set of subtopics and filter the pages to your
selection. If you keep clicking on further nodes you will see the number of available results drop.
Notice some of the other options available to you down the left hand side bar – for example you can pick out the
most recently added resources or you can select web links to resources that you have not yet visited.
In summary
1. Use the side bar to refine your searches and perhaps save time in finding relevant information
a. Options to select the country from which material has come
b. Options to choose the time at which the material was posted
c. Options to narrow searches down to news organisations, blogs, Google Books etc
2. Google Instant definitely speeds things up if you have a Gmail account! Ensure it is switched on!
3. The timeline can be a nifty way of putting concepts/ policies and issues into historical perspective
4. WonderWheel offers a different approach using a hub and spoke approach
Geoff Riley