Cambridge University Library Taming Google - making the web work for you Ange Fitzpatrick Data Control, Cambridge University Library

A word from our sponsor There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know.

How do we search sensibly? Knowns Good bookmark management on your PC Bookmark tools on public machines Del.ici.ous, xmarks, RSS feeds Let the information come to you

How do we search sensibly? Unknowns Think about your search terms

How do we search sensibly? Unknowns Think about your search terms Avoid vague terms like ‘engineering’ or ‘science’

How do we search sensibly? Unknowns Think about your search terms Avoid vague terms like ‘engineering’, or ‘science’ Group terms together: “public policy”

How do we search sensibly? Unknown unknowns Use the OR operator, or search for ‘similar’ sites

How do we search sensibly? Unknown unknowns Use the OR operator, or search for ‘similar’ sites

How do we search sensibly? Unknown unknowns Use the OR operator, or search for ‘similar’ sites Go directly to ‘deep web’ sites

Google- the tour Enter your search terms:

Searching the whole web Or just UK sites?

Advert

Results from Google Image

Links to other types of results

Cached copy of the website

Top result

Wikis: User generated content

Adding extra search terms

Fewer hits

Adding extra search terms Better quality results?

Adding extra search terms Better quality results?

Adding extra search terms Better quality results?

Excluding search terms

Other useful operators Searching in specific sites Keyword site:address Libraries site:bbc.co.uk Produces results for all articles about bbc.co.uk

Other useful operators Wildcard search Use an asterisk * in place of terms Blackburn Rovers beat * in * cup Produces results detailing any team beaten in any cup

Other useful operators Using the OR operator Searches for one term combined with a range of others David Cameron OR Beckham Produces results for David Cameron or David Beckham

Other useful operators The OR operator keeps going…. David Cameron OR Beckham OR Hasselhoff OR Ginola OR is also useful for spelling variations Eye colour OR color Or combine the functions Medieval OR medieaval OR “middle ages”

Still not getting the right results? Try clearing your browsing history Google stores your searches Google remembers the links you click on and promotes them in the search hierarchy This can be problematic, especially on public machines

Clearing Firefox Tools > Clear recent history Tools > Options to remove cookies

Clearing Internet Explorer Tools > Delete browsing history Tools > Internet options to remove cookies

Understanding the internet A different world to real searching Google doesn’t search everything

Understanding the internet A different world to real searching Google doesn’t search everything Like these useful paid for services

Understanding the internet The internet is a weird place More informal sharing of ideas Blurred relationships between consumers and producers Little formal hierarchy or organisation Don’t forget about memes…

Understanding the internet Ideas are spread informally by memes: LOLcats Dancing baby Facebook games: Farmville and Mafia Wars Are memes useful to us?

Understanding the internet Think about how content is created and shared online

Understanding the internet Think about how content is created and shared online informal content ≠useless content

Understanding the internet User generated content can’t always be trusted

Understanding the internet User generated content can’t always be trusted But don’t let that put you off!

Understanding the internet Search and verify: Compare music biographies on Wikipedia and GROVE online

Understanding the internet Search and verify: Compare music biographies on Wikipedia and GROVE online Compare film data on Wikipedia with the Internet Movie Database

Understanding the internet The web as a whole is noisy. Let’s go somewhere quieter…

Beyond the basic interface When we want quality, academic results it’s best to block out some aspects of the web Go beyond the basic interface with: Google Books Google Scholar iGoogle

Google Books - what it is Full text access to books ‘in the public domain’ Limited access to books under copyright Full text access to some magazines

Google Books - why it is useful Read full text Confirm data: try a quotation Read an introduction or check the contents of a book Decide whether or not to buy, order or read the book

Google Books - the tour Enter search term: Moonstone

Full text

Snippets

Full text Snippets Overview only

Metadata issues

Reviews Places to buy Related books

Links to WorldCat

Google Books: useful bits Tag cloud- searches for these common terms in the full text

Google Books: useful bits Link through to articles on Google Scholar

Read the full text

Full text toolbar

Zoom Page layout

Full text toolbar See Contents Page Flick between pages

Full text toolbar See Contents Page Flick between pages Just text Clip, link, share

Google Scholar Searches academic and peer-reviewed articles Groups results for easy analysis Provides: Citations Abstracts Full text

Google Scholar - the tour Enter your search terms: “Stanford Prison Experiment”

Cambridge resource

Citations

Other versions of this article

Other places this article has been cited

Articles related to this one

Google Scholar - useful operators Finding pages about an author, or finding pages by author? “Jeanette Winterson” will find articles about Winterson Author:jeanette winterson will find articles by Winterson

Google Scholar - useful operators Restricting your search by journal or by date Use Advanced Search

Google work tools Google Docs A free suite of office tools Compatible with Microsoft products Can be shared with others

Google work tools iGoogle Personalised start page Ideal for information streaming High level of functionality Both Google-made and user generated applications

Credits Donald Rumsfeld LOL cats Wikipedia’s big book of things that night not be true

Credits Screenshots are courtesy of Google All other images used under a Creative Commons Licence

Research Skills Programme At you can … Find our timetable of subject-based sessions Book for hands-on information skills classes Request one-to-one training Download these slides and other handouts us at