Types of information you may be expected to find online in your career:
Google is an excellent tool for searching the open web! It has:
On this page you will find a few of the most helpful and most used Google Search Tips:
Sometimes you need to be very specific in a search and find the EXACT PHRASE.
To force Google to search for an exact phrase, place QUOTATION MARKS around the phrase in your Google search box:
TIP: Search engines typically ignores little words like And, The, Of, I, For, etc in your search. To force Google to recognize and include those small word as part of the search, put quotation marks around them.
For example, to find the satirical newpaper The Onion, you might search for "The" Onion.
The English language is full of synonyms and related words. Sometimes we're not sure which word is the best to use, so we want to try several of them.
You can do this in your search in two ways. Either:
A. Add a tilde ( ~ ) before the word with several variants
OR
B. "Nest" your search by typing out the related terms you'd like to search with the word OR in between. Put parantheses around this set of words.
If using nested searches, it helps to think of your search like a math equation. Putting the operation to be performed first in parantheses.
If you find yourself getting several hits that are not focused on what you want, you may wish to exclude a word from your search.
To exclude a word from your search results, type a dash (-) before the word.
For example, to find information on gasoline, but not diesel I might type in: gasoline -diesel
To only find websites within a specific domain (i.e. .gov, .edu, .org) include the entry site:[domain] in your search box.
For example, to find information about manufacturing from only government websites you're search might look like: manufacturing site:gov
To find specific types of files online (i.e. online PDFs, spreadsheets, powerpoints, etc.), type the following into your search box: filetype:[three-letter file extension]
Common file extensions are:
For example, if you wanted to find Powerpoint presentations on CAD tutorials you might search: CAD tutorials filetype:PPT
WIthin your Google results, you have the option to limit your search results by Date, Location, Reading level and more!
Simply activate the Search Tools menu to see these options.
Most of the tips and tricks listed on this page can also be set-up using Google's Advanced Search. This form allows you to set-up multiple "limits" for your search without having to remember the trick for entering it into the regular search box.
You will find the Advanced Search form located under the Settings (or Gear icon) within your Google search window.
FROM WITHIN YOUR RESULTS - Look for the GEAR ICON
OR
FROM THE MAIN GOOGLE SEARCH SCREEN - Look for SETTINGS in the bottom right corner.
