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MCC Faculty Summer Institute May 2012. Find what you need on Google. Illustration by Alex Eben Meyer, courtesy of Slate.com. Google is the most popular search engine on the web Google is constantly expanding its capabilities and offerings
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MCC Faculty Summer Institute May 2012 Find what you need on Google Illustration by Alex Eben Meyer, courtesy of Slate.com
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 Why Google It?
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 Predictive searching
Questions? If you ask a question, you will get a question in your results Google will take you to “answer sites”
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” Order matters Some things you may not know about how Google searches… Small 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? What the Google Search Engine “thinks” when you enter a search term with multiple words
You enter “death tax” • Google also looks for “estate tax” Google’s automated thesaurus
ExampleUse medic* common variations “Death be not proud” Exact phrase -cat Eliminate from keywords 1998…2000 Search within date range Filetype:pdf type of file sought Intitle:word looks in title site:edu looks in certain sites Operators
Author:driskell • Calculator terms works in search box • Define:indemnify • Unit converter More Illustration by Alex Eben Meyer, courtesy of Slate.com
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 Keyboard shortcuts
ProsCons *More results *More results More types of sources Not as flexible as fee-based Good on relevance Not as current *”More results” can be good or bad, depending on your situation. Google Scholar
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 In conclusion…
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