7.1: Searching with Google

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Before you learn how to up your Google searching game, let's learn a little bit about what happens behind the scenes when you're searching, and how to "read" your Google search results page. Watch The Internet: How Search Works (5m12s).

Keywords

Just like with a catalog and database search, you should search with keywords in Google. The more keywords you put into Google, the more results you'll get. You don't want to add unnecessary keywords (is, the, to, for, on...) to your search, because they'll clog up your results and make it harder to find what you're looking for.

Google like a librarian

We all use it - now let's learn to use it better! Upping your Googling skills will save you time and make it easier to identify better sources of information. Tips and tricks are explained below.

Use quotation marks around your phrases to search for the words as a phrase, instead of separately.
Use intitle: to see results that have your keywords in the title.
Use site:. to only see results that end in the domain (.gov, .edu, .org) you specify. Universities (.edu) and the US government (.gov) are some of our biggest producers of research, and are great places to find good information. Why do domains matter?
Use - (a hyphen or minus sign) in front of words to exclude them from your search results.
Use filetype: to retrieve specific types of files (instead of websites). This works for finding most file types, but PDF is the most common choice for this trick.
Use several strategies at once for very specific results.

A word on website domains

Website domain suffixes can help you evaluate the purpose, audience, and initial credibility of a website.

Some domains such as .com, .org, and .net can be purchased and used by any individual or organization.
.edu is reserved for colleges and universities, meaning only folks who work at or attend the institution can publish to the website. .edu sites are usually more credible sources for information (though students can be assigned .edu addresses to for personal use, so use caution when citing).
.gov denotes a government website. .gov sites are usually more credible sources for information.
.org is often used by non-profit organizations (which may have an agenda of persuasion rather than education) but also can be purchased by for-profit corporations and individuals. Smart to check out the "About Us" pages when on a .org - or any - website.