Friday, June 27, 2008

Google Search Tips

I think we probably ought to be teaching high schoolers (junior high schoolers?) how to use Google and the other Internet search engines. They are becoming that important. Since we are not and some of us are far, far removed from high school, let me offer Top Search Tips as way to improve your Google searches. Here is the first of ten tips:

1. Use the Advanced Search screen. There are lots of goodies to be found on the advanced search screens: options for focussing your search by file format (e.g. xls for data and statistics, ppt for expert presentations, pdf for industry or government reports); site and domain search to limit your search to just one web site or a type of organisation (e.g. UK government, US academic); and in Google there is a numeric range search.