Google Me This, Batman! Maureen Pettitt, Ph.D. Skagit Valley College

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Making the Most of Search Terms

What is the population of Mount Vernon, WA? mount vernon = 11,400,000 results mount vernon = 11,400,000 results Every web page that Google has indexed that includes the words mount or vernon Every web page that Google has indexed that includes the words mount or vernon mount vernon washington = 2,360,000 mount vernon washington = 2,360,000 Every webpage that it has indexed that includes the words mount or vernon or washington Every webpage that it has indexed that includes the words mount or vernon or washington

“mount vernon washington” = 129,000 results “mount vernon washington” = 129,000 results Instead of returning pages that include mount, vernon, or washington, using quotes will yield only pages that include the entire phrase that you put in quotes Instead of returning pages that include mount, vernon, or washington, using quotes will yield only pages that include the entire phrase that you put in quotes Notice that the results still includes sites about George & Martha’s estate in Virginia Notice that the results still includes sites about George & Martha’s estate in Virginia

(Notice that not too far down the list is the Wikipedia webpage…) What happens if we reverse the state and city name? What happens if we reverse the state and city name? “ washington mount vernon ” = 212,000; with all the top hits being George & Martha’s place “ washington mount vernon ” = 212,000; with all the top hits being George & Martha’s place If we add population to “ mount vernon washington” we get 12,400 results If we add population to “ mount vernon washington” we get 12,400 results with the population of the city the first result (from Wikipedia no less!) with the population of the city the first result (from Wikipedia no less!)

Adding more search terms Using the plus sign Using the plus sign Add +census to the search; the result is 622 Add +census to the search; the result is 622 A plus sign forces pages to include the term after the “+” A plus sign forces pages to include the term after the “+” If we want to exclude Wikipedia (Batman wants us to do so) If we want to exclude Wikipedia (Batman wants us to do so) Add a minus sign in front of the term you want to eliminate Add a minus sign in front of the term you want to eliminate –wikipedia –wikipedia There are now 517 results There are now 517 results

If we only want census pages, click on Advanced Search and add census.gov to the “Search within a site or domain field” If we only want census pages, click on Advanced Search and add census.gov to the “Search within a site or domain field” Holy Joy Hog, Batman! Holy Joy Hog, Batman! We narrowed the search down to 54 results from our original 11.4 million! We narrowed the search down to 54 results from our original 11.4 million!

A Short Cut If you are wanting only government web sites, add “*.gov” to your search terms, but note that this can broaden rather than reduce your results! If you are wanting only government web sites, add “*.gov” to your search terms, but note that this can broaden rather than reduce your results! Your government is clearly here to help… Your government is clearly here to help… …and obviously a wildcard! …and obviously a wildcard!

Molasses Disaster Molasses Disaster gets us 1, 570,000 results Molasses Disaster gets us 1, 570,000 results Searching for “molasses disaster” (with quotes ) reduced the number to 68,800 Searching for “molasses disaster” (with quotes ) reduced the number to 68,800 “molasses disaster” + Boston = 47,200 “molasses disaster” + Boston = 47,200 Adding “ edu ” in Advanced Search under domain = 792 results Adding “ edu ” in Advanced Search under domain = 792 results

Dictionary Definitions Dictionary Definitions Median Median Whippersnapper Whippersnapper Images Images Whippoorwill Whippoorwill Synonym Search Synonym Search ~ Calculations, conversions, flight status, package tracking, movies, get address from a phone number, people search, etc. Calculations, conversions, flight status, package tracking, movies, get address from a phone number, people search, etc. Other Useful Stuff

Similar to using ProQuest or EBSCOhost, but is available when you can’t get to those resources, or want to supplement your search Similar to using ProQuest or EBSCOhost, but is available when you can’t get to those resources, or want to supplement your search

Features Scholar Preferences Scholar Preferences Specify language, library, number of results, or bibliography mgr (i.e., EndNotes) Specify language, library, number of results, or bibliography mgr (i.e., EndNotes) Advanced Search Advanced Search Specify author/subject information, publication, dates Specify author/subject information, publication, dates

My Go-To Advanced Search: Author Search Advanced Search Tips: The search [friedman regression] returns papers on the subject of regression written by people named Friedman. If you want to search on an author's full name, or last name and initials, enter the name in quotes: ["jh friedman"]. The search [friedman regression] returns papers on the subject of regression written by people named Friedman. If you want to search on an author's full name, or last name and initials, enter the name in quotes: ["jh friedman"].friedman regression"jh friedman"friedman regression"jh friedman"

When a word is both a person's name and a common noun, you might want to use the "author:" operator. This operator only affects the search term that immediately follows it, and there must be no space between "author:" and your search term. When a word is both a person's name and a common noun, you might want to use the "author:" operator. This operator only affects the search term that immediately follows it, and there must be no space between "author:" and your search term. For example: [author:flowers] returns papers written by people with the name Flowers, whereas [flowers -author:flowers] returns papers about flowers, and ignores papers written by people with the name Flowers (a minus in front of a search term excludes results that contain this search term). For example: [author:flowers] returns papers written by people with the name Flowers, whereas [flowers -author:flowers] returns papers about flowers, and ignores papers written by people with the name Flowers (a minus in front of a search term excludes results that contain this search term).author:flowersflowers -author:flowersauthor:flowersflowers -author:flowers

You may use the operator with an author's full name in quotes to further refine your search. Try to use initials rather than full first names, because some sources indexed in Google Scholar only provide the initials. You may use the operator with an author's full name in quotes to further refine your search. Try to use initials rather than full first names, because some sources indexed in Google Scholar only provide the initials. For example: To find papers by Donald E. Knuth, you could try [author:"d knuth"], [author:"de knuth"], or [author:"donald e knuth"]. For example: To find papers by Donald E. Knuth, you could try [author:"d knuth"], [author:"de knuth"], or [author:"donald e knuth"].author:"d knuth"author:"de knuth"]author:"donald e knuth"author:"d knuth"author:"de knuth"]author:"donald e knuth"