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Google for Research
• Advanced Google Searching• Google Scholar• Google Books• Google U. S. Government Search
Objectives
You will learn to:• Simplify your searching,• Identify main concepts,• Search broadly to maximize relevant
results,• Target your search, and• Revise your search strategy.
Simplify Your Google Searching
• Type in lower case.•Google ignores capitalization in most cases.
• Leave out punctuation.•Some punctuation marks are actually search
commands that alter search results.• No need to connect terms with AND.
•Google always tries to find all search terms.• Enter search terms in the singular forms.
•Google should automatically search for all endings of words, both singular and plural.
Identify Main Concepts of Search Topic
• Take a moment to define the information you need to find.• I need recent, credible information about
outbreaks of avian flu.• Write down the two or more main aspects of
your topic.• Avian flu• Outbreaks
List Search Terms
• Make a list of search terms, including synonyms and related terms, for each concept. •Avian Flu
avian flu, bird flu, avian influenza, bird influenza, H5N1
•Outbreaks outbreak, incidence, incident, case, statistic
Tips for Searching Broadly
•We will cover the following tips for searching broadly to search more comprehensively on your topic:•Use OR to broaden search results,•Enclose each concept in parentheses, and•Use ~ to find similar words.
Use OR to Broaden Search
• Connecting keywords with OR retrieves results using the search terms on either side of the OR.
• Excellent strategy to retrieve results for synonyms or terms that are closely related in meaning.
• Brings together the results for both search terms into one big set.
• Use to search comprehensively on a topic.• OR must be capitalized.
Enclose Each Concept in Parentheses
• Use parentheses to enclose the search terms for each concept.• (avian OR bird OR H5N1) (flu OR influenza)
• Google searches for the terms within the parentheses first before combining with terms outside the parentheses.
Parentheses
Enclose Each Concept in Parentheses
• Use multiple levels of parentheses for more complex searches.
Use ~ to Find Similar Words
• Use the tilde symbol ~ to find similar words.• Google tries to retrieve results that include
words with similar meanings.• Put the tilde directly before the search term,
with no intervening space.•~avian
• Note: Since Google must cross-reference similar words, connecting keywords with OR is the most reliable method.
Target Your Search
• These tips will help you to target your search to retrieve the most relevant and useful search results:•Use “ ” for phrase searching,•Search for a range of numbers,•Search for certain types of Web pages,•Exclude terms from the search,•Retrieve documents with particular filetypes, and•Search for title words.
Use “ ” for Phrase Searching
• Surrounding phrases with quotation marks keeps the words together in this exact order.
• Particularly useful for names, concepts or titles involving multiple words.• “Avian influenza A (H5N1) infection in humans”
Use * to Fill in the Blank
• Use * to fill in the blank, if an intervening word is unknown.
Search for a Range of Numbers
• Google doesn’t provide a precise method for searching for dates of publication.
• To search for a range of numbers, connect the numbers with ..
Exclude Terms from Search
• Put the - immediately before the search term to exclude it.
• To find information about dolphins (the animal), but not football
Web Domains
• The domain at the end of a Web address indicates the type of organization or entity that published the Web page.•Commercial entity = .com•Non-Profit Organization = .org•Federal, state or local government = .gov•Educational institution = .edu
Limit to Particular Domains
• Limit the search to a particular type of Web site with command site: followed by the domain type.
• Sites published by government (.gov), educational (.edu) or non-profit organizations (.org) are generally good places to look for credible information.
Exclude Certain Domains
• Alternatively, exclude commercial sites using – immediately before the domain
• -site:com
Retrieve Documents with Certain Filetypes
• To limit search results to a certain filetype, place the command filetype immediately before the file extension, with no space.
• Commonly used and useful file extensions:• pdf: Portable Document Format, good for finding
handouts• xls: Excel, useful for finding data sets• jpg, gif, png, tif: Various filetypes for images• ppt: To find PowerPoint presentations.
Search for Words in Titles
• Use intitle: to require that the search term be in the title of the Web page.
Revise Your Search
• Different word orders retrieve different results.• Add additional search terms to your search
strategy to receive fewer and more specific results
• Try the Advanced Search Screen to the right of the Google search box.
Questions About Advanced Searching
?
Google Scholar
• How to access Scholar• What it searches• What it doesn’t search• Using commands and query modifiers to
search• Advanced search screen• Cited reference searching• Advantages & Scope
Accessing Google Scholar
• Search Google for Google Scholar• http://scholar.google.com/
• Scholar Preferences•Add libraries for full text linking
•Metropolitan State University•Refworks
What Scholar Searches
• Searches a much smaller universe of information than regular Google.
• Citations from scholarly journals• Some
•Conference proceedings•Reports•Government publications and Web sites•Books
What Scholar Doesn’t Search
• Does not include:•All scholarly journals•Full text for all listed articles•Most of the citations and articles available via
subscriptions purchased via libraries• Google does not disclose exactly what is
included in Scholar.
Advanced Scholar Searching
• Uses the same commands & modifiers as regular Google• “ ” for phrase searching•OR to broaden search to find related terms• - to exclude words• intitle: to find a word in a document title
• Additional commands• author: to find articles by author name
• Advanced search screen
Cited Reference Searching
• One of the great strengths of Scholar.• If you find a great article on your topic, look to
see what articles cite it.• Related articles also useful for finding articles
on similar topics.
• Cited reference searching - insert screen pritn
When to Search Elsewhere?
• When completeness is important• When currency is important• When it will be more efficient to search a
database that specializes in your subject• When you need the power and accuracy of
searching with subject headings
Google Scholar Questions
?
Google Books
• http://books.google.com/ • Same commands work here• Additional options in Advanced Book Search• Four types
•Full view• Limited preview•Snippet view•No preview
• Screen print - advanced book search
About This Book
• Complete citation information• Table of contents• Places to buy the book• Find this book in a library
•www.worldcat.org
Google Books Questions
?
Google U. S. Government Search
•www.google.com/ig/usgov • Searches all federal, state and city Web sites• Searches selected .com & .org• Great for finding government publications,
many of which are published online only• Useful for finding information about legislation,
public policy, etc.
Questions About Books & U. S. Government Search
?
Questions?
• Martha Hardy • Email: [email protected] • For supplementary information or to review
this presentation, see: http://extremegoogling.pbwiki.com/
Thank you!
