Beyond Google How to get the most out of your research using Google and other digital tools.

Today you will… 0 Learn some easy tips to get more out of your Google search 0 Be able to explore some alternative (and perhaps better??) search engines to use with your students 0 Be introduced to digital collections and databases that may be useful in research 0 Receive some handouts for classroom use Feel free to ask questions. We will practice everything so ensure that your iPad is internet connected.

What is the first tool you (or your students) turn to in a research task?

Google aims to search entire web BUT we really only scratch the surface. Do you believe this is the most effective research tool?

Other things to consider… 0 Google is a BUSINESS 0 People pay to have their websites appear at the top of search results 0 Other people manipulate the results by tagging their content to impact on how far up the search result their website appears 0 Remember: we have to TEACH students the skills to navigate this iceberg of information (there is a worksheet for evaluating websites in your handouts). BUT…people still love using Google so how do we ensure that we get the most out of it?

Quick and Easy Google Tip 1 Eliminating what you don’t want to know: use –minus e.g. if you want to find out about Indigenous people but elsewhere in the world you might enter: Remember: Google works by picking out words within the resource so you may find you need to add words such as: -Aboriginal –Australian to get a more accurate result. This highlights the limits of Google. Do not add a space between – sign and the keyword you want to exclude.

Quick and Easy Google Tip 2 Using quotes allows you to search for an exact phrase: e.g. “Australian Aboriginal people” This means that Google will search the phrase not the individual words. Spend a moment searching with and without quotes.

Quick and Easy Google Tip 3 Using OR (always in capitals) allows you to obtain a greater number of resources simultaneously. E.g. Say you want to know about “Australian Aboriginal people” and “rights and freedoms” You could do this: This will search for content with either “Australian Aboriginal people” or “rights and freedoms” or both.

Quick and Easy Google Tip 4 You can now search by image using Google (best in Chrome).

Using Advanced Search

Quick and Easy Google Tip 5 0 You are now able to search for trending information and news using #hashtags. This is a good tool for current topics that are being discussed on social media platforms. 0 Enter a current topic in your Google search bar with a hashtag e.g. #AUSPOL is a favoured hashtag for Australian politics. #Gonski is also currently used.

Google is best for… 0 The first step in an inquiry task – getting a broad view of a topic so that the student can zone in according to their interest 0 Quick research 0 Connected research: Google is linked with many social media platforms – which is undoubtedly increasingly influencing how information is communicated. BUT….there are other options

Digital Collections 0 Digital collections differ to the web in that they are put together by specialists and are searched according to indexes or tags. 0 They tend to be put together by educators, librarians, museum curators and are collectively contributed to (by tagging or reviewing a resource) 0 Excellent for visual literacy tasks or finding resources for the Australian curriculum

Trove

Scootle

Alternative Search Engines Google Scholar: scholar.google.com.auscholar.google.com.au

Librarians We are above all TEACHERS!