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Word order can affect search results; put most significant words first.
The and A can matter.
Capitalization and punctuation do not matter.
Placement of operators doesn’t matter.
#1 Search Operators
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“phrase searching” puts two or more words in quotation marks.
Google searches for an EXACT match for what is in quotes.
“thomas a rogers”
“the war of the worlds”
- minus sign before a word (no space between) EXCLUDES that word from search
results
-Montana -“physical fitness”
OR in capital letters, between two words, will give results containing EITHER of those
words (or both)
coconut OR caramel "mrs jane lunnon" OR "mrs lunnon"
.. between two numerical values searches for results containing something in that
RANGE
$25..$50 1990..1994
The * serves as a WILDCARD and can be placed in the search to find an unknown
word or words growing * in florida “how many * make a *”
#2 site:
Limits search results to the specified website. No spaces.
site:nytimes.com site:edu
#3 related:
Search results will be similar websites. No spaces.
related:www.barnesandnoble.com
info about website info:yale.edu | pages linking to a given page link:law.harvard.edu
#4 filetype:
.doc .docx .rtf .pdf .xls .mp4 .jpg .gif & others
Limits search results to the specified file type. No spaces. Period optional. filetype:ppt
#5 define: or define
Also: synonym / etymology
Define: (with or without a space) returns a definition at top.
define:egregious
define physical fitness
#6 conversions
[amount][unit one] in [unit two]
Convert one quantity to another. length, temperature, currency, time, volume, distance,
speed, digital storage
3 inches in cm
how many gallons in a keg
#7 calculations
Solve mathematical equations in search bar, or search Calculator to bring one up on screen.
#8 Images
Use Search Tools to refine your search.
Search by Image by clicking camera icon in search bar and supplying the image url.
PaLA 2014
Ed Lupico
#9 Translate
Translate right in search box, on translate page, or use Google Translate for advanced
functions.
http://translate.google.com
#10 Google Books
*may need Google account for certain features
Search & browse millions of books. Download free books.
http://books.google.com
#11 Google Magazines
*may need Google account for certain features
A part of Google Books, search & browse a wide variety of digitized magazines.
http://www.google.com/books/magazines
#12 Google Newspaper Archive
http://news.google.com/newspapers
Search and view large digitized collection of world newspapers.
#13 Google Scholar
*may need Google account for certain features
Locate, search, preview, read scholarly articles and information.
http://scholar.google.com
#14 Google Maps
http://www.google.com/maps
Get directions, explore the world, view famous sites
#15 Informational Operators
Specific information based on using one of the following keywords + a search term.
 Sunrise, sunset, time, weather [location]
 Cast of, Books by, Movies of, Films of, Songs by, Albums by
 Package tracking, Flight number, Stock [company name]
 Population, Unemployment Rate
 Set a timer
#16 Google Drive
*must have Google account
drive.google.com
Cloud-based suite of applications allowing you to create documents, spreadsheets,
presentations, forms, and drawings. You can open and edit other formats (ie Microsoft word
documents). You can access your projects from any computer and they are saved remotely.
Article
Erinn Hutkin: “Google Can’t Compete with a Skilled Librarian Steeped in Information Technology”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Humor
Google Doodles
http://www.google.com/doodles
Let Me Google That For You
http://lmgtfy.com/
Some Google Easter Egg Searches
Google in 1998, tilt, blink HTML, do a barrel roll, festivus, define anagram, loneliest number, recursion
PaLA 2014
Ed Lupico