| This guide describes: |
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| • When to use Google and when to use a specialized library resource |
| • Google and its many search techniques |
| • Strategies to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of Google searching |
| • “Hedges” or suggested terms to use for common search limiters |
| • Where to learn more about Google |
Google (http://www.google.com/ ) is a popular search tool because even novice searchers can find relevant information. Expert searching requires subject or discipline content knowledge, understanding of scholarly communication patterns of the discipline, awareness of information databases important to the field, and the structure, vocabulary, and search operators used by each database. Expert searchers carry the search further by understanding how to also access full text. Applying expert searching to Google is easy when you know the following:
| To Google or Not to Google? |
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| • Do you use Google to search for just about everything? |
| • Are you satisficed*, rather than satisfied, with the answers you find? (*Satisficed: a conjunction of satisfied and suffice; You are satisficed when you decide on and pursue a course of action satisfying the minimum requirements to achieve a goal. The term was coined by H. Simon in the journal Psychological Review. Volume 69: 129 1956.) |
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| Google is convenient and easy to search. However, it's not always the best or quickest source for the information you're seeking. Don't start at Google if you need specialized information. When deciding where to begin your search, consider the following criteria: |
| Use a web search engine when you: |
Use a specialized library resource when you: |
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| • Have forgotten the URL for a website |
• Need high quality information |
| • Need a quick fact or two |
• Need evidence based information |
| • Are more concerned with speed of retrieval, than with the accuracy of information |
• Need to be assured of the accuracy of information |
| • Need a webpage, but not other types of documents |
• Need documents not available via Google (print format books or journals) |
| • Need a resource that is from the ‘grey literature’ (reports, white papers, meeting abstracts) |
• Need specialized information |
| • Need multimedia resources |
• Need user support (librarians, classes, tutorials, handouts) |
| What Is The Scope Of Google? |
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| Google contains millions of documents in many formats besides web pages without discrimination of the quality of the documents. It searches an indexed file of documents, not the World Wide Web. Google does not include many "invisible web" documents, i.e. those that are embedded within other web-based databases (although Google is forming partnerships and creating tools to include these hidden documents.) Google indexes not only the content of a page, but also html coding and metadata that is "behind the scenes." |
| How Does Google Rank Results? |
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| Google weights word location (in the title or header) and page popularity (how many pages link to a page in your results list). |
| Also important are word frequency, word order, and word proximity. |
| What Limits Does Google Use? In the Advanced search form, Google allows limits to: |
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| • A page title or url (inurl:library or intitle:marijuana or intitle: "death penalty") |
| • A format (filetype:pdf), |
| • A site or domain (site:nasa.gov or site:edu). |
| • You can also limit to pages that are similar to a web page or that link to a particular page. |
| How Many Characters Can Be Searched In One Query? |
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| There is a limit of 32 words. |
| Does Google Use Stop Words? |
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| There is a list of common words Google won't search. To over-ride the stop list use the '+' sign or phrase quotes (+about Google or "black and white") |
| More information. |
| How Does Google Handle Punctuation? |
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| Apostrophe can be used and will retrieve different results (crohns OR crohn's ) |
| What Search Operators Does Google Use? |
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| • Google uses Boolean Operators. The default operator is AND. OR (all caps) or the "pipe" symbol (| - usually found above the enter key) can also be used. Google will process the terms connected by OR first then AND the results with other terms in the query. |
| • NOT isn't available in Google; use the minus sign before a term to eliminate unwanted terms (gates -Bill) |
| • Phrases can be searched by putting quotes (“ “) around terms. Use a hyphen in a phrase that can be one or two (child-care) |
| • Google uses stemming rather than a truncation (or wildcard) symbol.An asterisk (*) can be used to replace a word or words in a phrase ("George * Bush" retrieves George Bush as well as George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, George Walker Bush, etc.) |
| • Synonymous or related terms can be retrieved by using the tilde (~).The ~ should be used with caution as additional terms may be too broad to be useful in searching (~nutrition retrieves health or food). |
| • As mentioned above, Google ignores common words and characters such as where, the, how and other digits and letters with slow a search without improving results. If a common word is essential to getting needed results, include it by putting a "+" sign in front of it. Be sure to include a space before the "+" sign.
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| • Specify a number range using two periods between numbers or dates (seven years war 1500..2000) |
| Strategies To Improve The Quality And Efficiency Of Google Searching |
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| • Use the "Big Bite" strategy. Start witha fairly broad query, thennarrow results by adding more terms as needed: |
~teen ~pregnancy
~teen ~pregnancy ~prevent
~teen ~pregnancy ~prevent ~programs OR policies |
| • Try using more specific terms rather than fewer general terms in a search |
USE ~marijuana ~cocaine ~heroin ~PCP ~methamphetamine INSTEAD OF drug abuse |
| • Click the Similar Pages link to retrieve other similar websites |
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| • Useful 'Hedges' (add your term or terms to these queries) |
Biography: ~biography | ~profile | ~cv
Conferences: ~conference | ~meeting | ~congress
| ~symposium | ~proceedings
Statistics: ~statistic | ~data | ~table |
| • Consider using a specialized Google search, such as: Scholar, News, Books, Blog Search, Groups. |
Additional info: Google Help Center |
Thank you to Lynne M. Fox, AMLS, MA, AHIP, Education Librarian, Health Sciences Library, UCDHSC, for creating this guide and offering to share it with others. This handout is based on Ripple AS. Expert googling: best practices and advanced strategies for using google in health sciences libraries.
Medical References Services Quarterly, 2006 Summer;25(2):97-107. This guide reformatted and edited (non-medical sample search examples created) by Ellen Metter for the Auraria Library.
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