Academic Consulting

Google.com is the Internet’s top-rated Search Engine and one of the five most popular sites, being used by millions of people world-wide. However, despite the extensive use of Google, many users do not use it to its full potential, and simply type their query into the search box. Try getting a little more sophisticated with the following tips.

Searching Specific Sites

Entering the term 'site:' will restrict your search to a particular website (or a certain domain suffix). For example, to search for references to transcription on the QSR International Forum you could enter:

transcription site:forums.qsrinternational.com

Alternatively, to search for references to NVivo 8 on NZ tertiary websites you could enter:

“NVivo 8” site:ac.nz

Note that you can also exclude a site from a search by adding a minus sign before the ‘site:’. For example, to search for reviews on the Inspiration software that aren’t written by the company themselves, you could enter:

inspiration software reviews -site:www.inspiration.com

Searching for Exact Phrases

By default, when you enter a search query, Google will search for the words you have specified anywhere on a given webpage. This can often result in irrelevant results that have nothing to do with your actual query. To get around this problem, try using double quotation marks around the phrase. Google will then search for your keywords in the order that you have entered them - this will greatly reduce the number of search results found.

If you are unable to recall a word within the phrase you are searching for, you can use an asterisk which is a ‘wildcard’ i.e. a placeholder for a single word.

Searching for Synonyms

Sometimes we don’t need to find the exact word itself (and in fact doing so may lead us to miss important information). If this is the case, try searching for synonyms. To do so, place the “~” (tilde) in front of a word with no space between. For example, if you are searching for tutorials on the SPSS software you could enter:

spss ~tutorials

This will not just search for ‘tutorials’ but also words such as help, hints, guide, basics etc.

Finding Definitions

The ‘define:’ operator enables you to look up word definitions - simply include this before the term you wish to define, for example:

define:learning

Likewise, using the ‘what is’ search phrase will yield definitions, along with a regular Google search for the term. For example:

what is learning

Using Google as a Calculator

Believe it or not, Google also doubles as a calculator - simply enter in the calculation you want answered and ’Search’. Google will then return the result to you.

Other Useful Operators

Google has a range of other operators that you may find useful in your searching. These include the following:

cache: Finds the cached copy of the specified webpage
(great if the site is unavailable or has re-located)

link: Lists webpages that link to the specified webpage

related: Finds webpages that are similar to the specified webpage

Other Google Services

Google Inc. manage a range of innovative Internet tools and services, details of which can be found at: http://www.google.co.nz/options/index.html. Information regarding upcoming technology and developments can likewise be found at Google Labs: http://labs.google.com/. Be warned about visiting these sites however - if you’re prone to procrastination these are sure-fire ways to ’waste’ several hours!