COMM111 Susan Martin-WI23

Some things to think about when using the internet for searching:

• Lots of results can be overwhelming - make sure your keywords are really good, and use some of the tips below.
• Don't pay for things you find - order them from the library.
• Make sure you EVALUATE - since anyone can post anything, some information is not credible or reliable. Use CRAP on the "What are 'credible sources?' page.

We all use it - now let's learn to use it better! Improve your Googling skills to save time and make it easier to identify better sources of information.

Quotation marks

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

intitle:

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

site:

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

- (a hyphen or minus sign) 

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

OR

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

filetype:

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

Combine strategies

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• Use several strategies at once for very specific results.