Googling
Know the Basics
Table with 2 columns:
Google the Right Way
This Search
finds pages containing…
biking Italy
recycle steel OR iron
“I have a dream”
salsa –dance
Louis “I” France
the words biking and Italy
info on recycling steel or recycling iron
the exact phrase I have a dream
the word salsa but NOT the word dance
info about Louise the First (I), weeding out other kings
of France
glossaries about castles, as well as dictionaries, lists of
terms, terminology, etc…
all forms of the term, whether spelled as a single word,
a phrase, or hyphenated
finds documents of the specified file type: pdf, doc, jpg,
ppt, xls, rtf, etc…
search within a range of numbers, including years:
2006..2011
shows results with the word in the title
searches only one site or one domain
(site:www.census.gov)
castle ~glossary
fortune-telling
filetype:
[#]..[#]
intitle:
site:
Credit: Chart adapted from the work of Nancy Blachman & Jerry Peek
Nuts & Bolts
Anatomy of a Search
A digitized copy of a report, survey, document, etc. from the US Census that focuses
on the poverty rate affecting children, between 2006 to 2009.
filetype:pdf site:www.census.gov poverty rate intitle:child 2006..2009
filetype:pdf
site:www.census.gov
poverty rate
intitle:child
2006..2009
the file type
from this one site
about this topic
with this term in the title
between these years
Googling
Plethora
Picture of flat global map. Text in the picture: The Internet: A Windfall of
Information. Blogs, opinions, articles, music, cartoons, videos, technical reports,
news.
Not Your Average Googler
"Natural language searching" is one of Google's strong suits, but that type of
searching is effective when you are just looking for general info on a topic like Pearl
Harbor, or even the nearest pizza place or a review of a restaurant you're planning
to go to with your significant other. The search strategies in the chart on the left are
geared more towards academic searching. The "Anatomy of a Search" explanation
below that shows how you can start off with a search topic and string together those
strategies to find what you need and be a more effective "Googler."
Google Me This. Google Me That. Check up questions.
1. What would be your search term if you wanted to find information
specifically about bariatric surgery from an educational institution with the
word "teen" in the title and written between 2009 and 2012? Try performing
these searches in Google and scan the results.
a) .edu "bariatric surgery" from 2009 to 2012
b) site:.edu "bariatric surgery" intitle:teen 2009..2012
c) bariatric surgery teen
Correct Answer: b) site:.edu "bariatric surgery" intitle:teen
2009..2012
2. You are looking for a powerpoint on literary theory or literary criticism to
help your general understanding of the topic for a literature class you are
taking. How would you search for this in Google? (Again, copy and paste the
search terms and scan your results.)
a) literary theory and literary criticism powerpoint
b) literary theory and criticism in powerpoint format
c) filetype:ppt literary criticism OR literary theory
d) Correct Answer: c) filetype:ppt literary criticism OR literary theory