Google+searching

First of all, know that Google changes constantly! Search results can change over the course of several minutes even!

The Basics

There are all kinds of cheat sheets to look at to gain a better understanding of how things work. Google offers these: @http://www.google.com/help/cheatsheet.html @http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=134479

Here are a couple of charts to get you started. (From the Google cheat sheet cited above)
 * OPERATOR EXAMPLE ||  |||||| FINDS PAGES CONTAINING... ||
 * vacation hawaii ||  |||||| the words **vacation** and **Hawaii** . ||
 * //Maui **OR** Hawaii// ||  |||||| either the word **Maui** or the word **Hawaii** ||
 * // **"** To each his own **"** // ||  |||||| the exact phrase **to each his own** ||
 * //virus **–** computer// ||  |||||| the word **virus** but NOT the word **computer** ||
 * **//+//**//sock// ||  |||||| Only the word **sock**, and not the plural or any tenses or synonyms ||
 * // **~** auto loan// ||  |||||| loan info for both the word **auto** and its synonyms: **truck**, **car**, etc. ||
 * // **define:** computer// ||  |||||| definitions of the word **computer** from around the Web. ||
 * //red * blue// ||  |||||| the words **red** and **blue** separated by one or more words. ||
 * I'm Feeling Lucky ||  |||||| Takes you directly to first web page returned for your query. ||

(Search Stanford Univ. site for admissions info.) || range of numbers ||  || **DVD player $100..150** (Search for DVD players between $100 and $150) || (Find pages that link to the Stanford University website.) || (Find information about the Stanford University website.) || (Find websites related to the Stanford University website.) ||
 * ADVANCED OPERATORS ||  || MEANING ||   || WHAT TO TYPE INTO SEARCH BOX (& DESCRIPTION OF RESULTS) ||
 * **site:** ||  || Search only one website ||   || **admission site:www.stanford.edu**
 * [#] **…** [#] ||  || Search within a
 * ** link: ** ||  || linked pages ||   || **link:www.stanford.edu**
 * ** info: ** ||  || Info about a page ||   || **info:www.stanford.edu**
 * **related:** ||  || Related pages ||   || **related:www.stanford.edu**

If you want to find out LOTS more, go to @http://www.googleguide.com/ You'll find an incredible amount of information for novices through experts. There's even a page for teen searchers.

Advanced Searching

There are several ways to do advanced searching on Google. The first is to just memorize all of the search syntax and construct elaborate searches within the Basic search! If this seems daunting, just click on "Advanced Search" on the classic Google homepage. Notice the helpful "fill in the blanks" guide to creating a Boolean search. Other features are perhaps more interesting: If you click on "Date, usage rights, numeric range, and more," you can specifiy the time-range for the last update of the page, the kinds of copyright levels acceptable to you, and number ranges for dates, costs or other things.
 * Choose a language you would like to search in (but realize that there is a REALLY nice language search on the classic search page.)
 * Choose file types of interest. (You could search for Powerpoint presentations or PDF's on any subject, for instance.)
 * Choose site types of interest such as, ".edu" or ".gov," or search within large websites like NASA or National Geographic.

Google also makes a few searches easier by providing links at the bottom of the Advanced Search page for "U.S. Government" and "Book Search." The U.S. Government tab is of particular interest because a search within this area yields far more than doing a search specifying a ".gov" ending.

Wonder Wheel and Timeline
 * Once you've entered your search term and gotten a list of hits, click "Show Options" at the top of your hit list. Click **//Wonder Wheel//** in the left column to help you narrow down your search and organize your search in an easy to navigate path.
 * Click **//Timeline//** in the left column to organize your hits by date (can you say "primary sources"?!).