For a long time, I've known that entering in certain characters, or better yet, omitting certain words, could help your internet searches become more effective and efficient. But, I HAD NO IDEA the complexities that Google and other search engines use to narrow down the millions of hits one simple search can exhume from the information highway.
So, in order to make your online experience better, here are several tips and tricks for finding the RIGHT information:
- Use only the words you'd like to see on the results page. Forget about all the rest.
- Word order and Punctuation MATTER!
Punctuation that matters: $, #, and + (when used as C++, Google+)
Punctuation that Google ignores: ¶, £, €, ©, ®, ÷, §, %, (), @, ?, !
- Using quotes will "help you search for a phrase."
- Looking for the perfect picture to complement your blog? Use color filtering (just click the Search Tools button)
- Refine results only from specified sites (like .edu or .org) Here's how:
- [site:edu] or [site:.edu]
- [site:ucla.edu]
- [Jefferson site:archives.gov] or
- [site:archives.gov jefferson].
- Refine results from specified files (only want PDFs?) Here is a the Google Index for looking up file types.
There are hundreds of ways to make your searches more effective, and they are changing regularly. To stay updated on all the latest changes and improvements, see the following websites:
-Try out a few Google Courses that teach search engine optimization.
-Pick a blog to read to keep up-to-date:
-Set up an email alert to notify you when there is a new feature.
-Try out the AGoogleADay game.
It's crazy and really sometimes unfathomable what Google does to return the results you are looking for. I would imagine over 90% of people that use Google don't know about the tips and tricks listed here. I know I use Google every day and very rarely do I use any of the additional search options yet am still able to almost always find what I am looking for.
ReplyDeleteI think Google was very smart in adding all of these additional options. Someday, I think more people will use them if they are still around. I just recently learned that by putting in a tilde (~) with a word in your Google search, it would return synonyms. However, I just learned about this as Google decided to drop this function - I wonder what other functions will be dropped from search due to low to no usage!
Great point about dropping the searches- didn't even know those applications even existed
DeleteI have heard of different tricks to refining your searches using Google but I have never tried any. These tips will be very helpful when I conduct future searches. I also think this would be a great Ekids project/lesson. Actually all students could benefit from learning such tricks. I feel like I am Googling something at least once a day and I am sure they do as well.
ReplyDeleteDaily use - here too... seems in our society when a topic comes up that we are not aware of or knowledgeable of - that 'google it' is the first thing we do. Recently I made note of this 'instant gratification' when having a discussion at the lake and there was a debate about the accurate data of a specific thing i.e. GMO's in food. In case anyone wants to save a step ... here is an article that discusses the top 10 GMO foods: http://goo.gl/RBe5w ... see what you think.
DeleteI love to focus searches, and thank you for showing me how to do it more effectively, especially in regards to [site:edu]- love to use that in order to find more reputable sites for research!
ReplyDeleteThe edu function was the first thing that came to mind. I love the thought of students only being able to access Edu or .org sites.
DeleteI also like the site:edu search, but I would be careful of limiting students to those sites only. It takes away some of the digital awareness skills that they need to know in terms of finding valid and credible information and being able to evaluate whether it is valid or credible.
DeleteThis article will be very beneficial to my students when we begin our research in the fall. Although I allow the student to sparingly use Google and Google scholars, I feel this would be a way to help point them toward more reputable sites.
ReplyDeleteSearch engines like google are amazing and powerful tools. I had no idea that you could specify your searches in such specific ways before reading this blog and the associated links. This is something that I think we need to somehow incorporate into all of our classes at the beginning of the year. This is another online tool that students need to be taught how to effectively use.
ReplyDeleteLearning to meaningfully and purposefully search the internet is really an often looked-over skill. I think it is important our students know how to search and filter to find quality resources whether in an educational setting or personal setting.
DeleteI knew that Google used some great ways of figuring out what we were looking for but I never knew how to get even better results. For instance, I never know about the color filtering that you could do. I will definitely be trying some of these tricks out when I do future searches in order to get the best results. I think this is also something that we could easily show our students before they do their next project. They could really benefit from better results.
ReplyDeleteI agree what great knowledge to share with our students and colleagues (some of them would love to use these tips and tricks as well). I had been told about them while working with Kara on our presentation about technology but definitely think that it could be a great lesson for our eKIDS as well. Students would really benefit from these tips and tricks as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think that we need to share more of this information with the staff so that they can teach it to our students when doing different research projects. I hope to spread the word about these shortcuts to my colleagues when we get back in the fall.
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