BI211 Blackwell

We all use it - now let's learn to use it better! Improving your Googling skills will save you time and make it easier to identify better sources of information. Tips and tricks are explained below.

1. Use quotation marks around your search terms to search for the words in the exact order you would like, instead of separately.

1. Use intitle: to retrieve webpages with your keywords in the title of the webpage

1. Use site:. to retrieve webpages from URLs in the domain (.gov, .edu, .org) you specify.  

1. Use - (a hyphen or minus sign) in front of words to exclude them from your search results.

1. Use OR in between words to have either or both of the words included in your search results. OR must be capitalized. This is a good way to search for synonyms.

In the above example, Google will find results that include (election AND fraud) and (voter AND fraud).

1. Use filetype: to retrieve specific types of files (instead of html webpages). Works for finding most file types.

1. Use several strategies at once for very specific results.

Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) is a search engine designed to search scholarly literature - articles, books, abstracts, legal opinions, and dissertations and theses. Only resources published by academic publishers, professional associations, colleges and universities, and other online repositories are searched.

• Pro: Easy searching of a huge amount of information – it’s Google! All of the usual Google search features that you just learned about are available.
• Con: Free full text isn’t always available immediately.

If available, links to full text are included, but oftentimes you may hit a paywall. To get the free full text of Google Scholar articles emailed to you, submit an interlibrary loan request to CCC Library.

CCC students, faculty, staff, and community borrowers in need of books, articles, or other materials not available at CCC Library or through Summit Libraries can request those items from another library that participates in the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) program. Loan periods may be shorter than for our own materials, and renewals may or may not be possible. ILL is a free service.

All article requests should be submitted through ILL.

To request an article, first double-check that the article is not available from another database. The CCC Library Catalog is a good place to check!

Once you have determined it is not available at CCC, please fill out our Interlibrary Loan form (below) or contact Karina Young at 503-594-6328 or ill@clackamas.edu. Articles will be emailed to you within 3 - 10 business days. Include the following information:

• Article name
• Article author
• Journal name, volume number, and issue number
• Publication date
• Article page range

To request a book, first double-check that the book is not available from a Summit library (use the search box on this page). If it is not (or if you are a community borrower), please contact Karina Young at 503-594-6328 or ill@clackamas.edu. ILL books arrive in 7-10 business days. Include the book title, author, publication date, and ISBN (if possible).

You may also stop by the library to fill out a paper request form.