LibGuides: Randolph High School Media Center: Internet Search Tips

Google Search Tips

Google Search Tips

Punctuation Search Helpers (no space between punctuation symbol and next word, except for * )

“[exact phrase]”	Putting search terms in quotation marks searches for that exact phrase in that exact order	Ex. “drag racing”
-[search term]	Minus sign will ignore sites or articles that mention that word	Ex. barbecue -ribs
~[search term]	Will include sites with the synonyms of the search term
-[excluded word or site]	Excludes words or sites from your search	Ex. jaguar –car -wikipedia.org
* (asterick)	Put in place of unknown terms	Ex. Tomb of the * soldier

Other Search Helpers

[search term] + site [website] or site:[type of site]	Search within a specific site or type of site	Ex. schools site:nj.com Ex. baseball site:edu
[search term] filetype:	Search by a certain file type	Ex. baseball filetype:ppt
related:[url address]	Will find other sites that have similar content	Ex. related:cars.com
[search term] OR [search term]	Search for either on of two search terms	Ex. bananas OR plantains
publish date:[year]	Find articles published within a certain year	Ex. chimpanzees publish date:2016
[AROUND(#)	Allows you to search for terms that are near each other	Ex. China AROUND(2) doll = China (porcelain) doll Ex. China AROUND(3) doll = China (cracked porcelain) doll
allintitle:[search term]	Only looks for the terms in the page titles and ignores the text	Ex. allintitle:new jersey barbeque

Also use:

Advanced Search: Allows for further filtering, uses your chosen article as your new search, great when you find the perfect article
Google Scholar: Cuts out commercial sites and finds more scholarly articles

Decide whether a directory or a search engine will be more efficient and effective.
Know exactly what you are searching for.
Use different keywords or phrases to search on your subject. Be aware that many words have double meanings and will pad your results with useless information.
Spelling counts, check your words and addresses carefully.
Use a variety of search engines or directories because they bring up different results.
If it is possible, specialize your search. For instance, if you are searching for a court case, use a law directory http://www.findlaw.com
If searching for a person or proper noun, use capitals.
If searching for a subject with more than one word, use a phrase enclosed in quotes ("infantile paralysis").
Learn to use Boolean searching (and, not, or)
Pick a search engine and directory that you like and concentrate on learning all of their features in depth. Once you have mastered it, it will become more productive for you and other engines will be easier.
Use the "find" button on the menu to search through the text for your keyword.
Thousands of hits are ok - just check the first 10 or so which tend to be most relative to your subject.