Find what you need on Google

MCC Faculty Summer InstituteMay 2012

Illustration by Alex Eben Meyer, courtesy of Slate.com

Why Google It?

» Google is the most popular search engine on the web

˃ Google is constantly expanding its capabilities and offerings˃ It pays to know how to take advantage of all that it offers

» Rather than telling students NOT to use Google, maybe we should tell them HOW to use Google

The More button

…more…and more

…and even more

Predictive searching

» When you undertake a search, think in terms of the answer you are looking for, rather than the question you are asking

» Similar to what librarians call a “reference interview”

» This process is a brief mental exercise in defining your target

» Anticipate what you want to see on the page – a term, an attribute

Questions?

• If you ask a question, you will get a question in your results

• Google will take you to “answer sites”

Order matters

Some things you may not know about how Google searches…

Small words

» When you enter a search term, Google reads the entry and works as though the first word is more important than the second which is more than the third, etc….

» Google assumes an “and” between words – if you enter “and” it will search for the word “and”

What the Google Search

Engine “thinks” when you enter a search term with multiple

words

» How many times does the term appear ?

» How close is the term to the beginning?

» Is the term in the web address?

» Is the term in the title?

Google’s automated thesaurus

» You enter

“death tax”

» Google also looks for

“estate tax”

OperatorsExample Use

medic* common variations “Death be not proud” Exact phrase-cat Eliminate from keywords1998…2000 Search within date rangeFiletype:pdf type of file soughtIntitle:word looks in titlesite:edu looks in certain sites

More

» Author:driskell» Calculator terms works in search box» Define:indemnify» Unit converter

Illustration by Alex Eben Meyer, courtesy of Slate.com

Keyboard shortcuts

» Command – F Find on page» Command / Zoom in/zoom out» Command L Takes you to address bar» Command ~ New window» Command shift 3 Screenshot» Command shift 4 Partial Screenshot »

Google Scholar

» Pros Cons

*More results *More resultsMore types of sources Not as flexible as fee-basedGood on relevance Not as current

*”More results” can be good or bad, depending on your situation.

In conclusion…

» Google has an excellent library of teaching tools available

» In student-friendly, YouTube-video format, you can start, stop, and repeat until you have a set of directions mastered

» They keep information up-to-date

Bibliography

“How to Use Google Search More Effectively [INFOGRAPHIC].” Mashable. Web. 9 Mar. 2012.

“SCGettingStarted - Help’s Library.” Web. 9 May 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-2XtgqY-Y