Like a Librarian
All Search Terms Count All search terms count; for example, “compact foldup bicycle” A search in Google will find all pages containing the words “compact” and “fold-up” and “bicycle”. You don’t need to include the word “and” in-between your search terms; when searching Google the “and” is implied, this is called an implicit and.
Sometimes Google will pull up pages that do not contain your search terms; these pages are brought up because your search terms are included in the linked text to another page.
Search Terms Match Up Exactly “Google simply matches strings of characters together and doesn’t currently base inferences on uses of the language. Although this method has some drawbacks, it harnesses one of the fabulous powers of computers, the ability to shift through enormous heaps of data quickly and accurately” Ned Frelden (Internet Research, 2nd ed).
Search Terms Match Up Exactly If you Search
Google Won’t Find
Cheap
Inexpensive
TV
Television
Effects
Influences
Children
Kids
Car
Automobile
Search Terms Match Up Exactly However Google will find pages that include synonyms, for example If you Search
Google Finds
NYC
New York City
SF
San Francisco
Similar Words Match Google will automatically find pages that contain words that are similar to some or all of your search terms, for example If you Search
Google will Match
Child
Child Children Children’s
Bicycle
Bicycle Bicycles Bicycle’s Bicycling Bicyclists
Similar Words Match Google calls this function word variations or automatic stemming. Stemming is a technique to search on the stem or root of a word that has multiple endings. If you want to only search for pages that contain the search term or terms exactly, you will need to put quotations marks around the word or words, for example “child” and “how to bake an apple pie”.
Stop Words Some common words are considered stop words in Google; stop words generally don’t add meaning to the search terms. Stop words are for example; the, on, where, how, de, la and certain single digits and letters. If you are using Google to search for, What to read for a London tourist. Because this search includes stop words, Google will only look for pages that contain “read” and “London tourist”.
If you want Google to search all of your terms you will need surround you search phrase with quotation marks.
Word Limit Google limits search queries to 32 words. Google will indicate a message below the search box if your search exceeds the 32-word limit; this limit does not apply to stop words. Also please note it does not apply to search operators and indicators.
Terms Nearby Google tends to favor pages that have your search terms near each other; normally this proximity will be within a page. For example the search for snake grass will pull up pages about a plant. If you search for a snake in the grass Google tends to pull up pages about sneaky people. Although “in” and “the” are stop words; Google will actually pull up pages in which snake and grass are separated by at least two words.
Terms in Order Google tends to pull up pages that have terms in the same order as your query.
Not Case-Sensitive Google is not case-sensitive, it will pull up results which are both upper and lower case. The only words that need to be upper case are your search operators OR and AND.
Characters Ignored Google ignores some punctuation and special characters; for example !
]
?
@
,
/
.
$
;
<
[
>
Punctuation is not as important as your search terms, however there exceptions such as C++.
Apostrophes Google will match words with an apostrophe with words with an apostrophe. If you Search
Google will Find
Google Won’t Find
We’re
We’re
Were
Were
Were
We’re
Hyphenated Terms Because people vary on how they enter in hyphenated words Google will search both hyphen and spaced words. For example If you Search
Google will Find
Part-time
Part-time Parttime Part time
Crafting your Query with Special Characters Quoted Phrases
To search for a phrase, a proper name, or a set of words in a specific order you need to put them in double quotes. Using quotes ensure that you will be pulling up pages containing the exact quoted phrase.
Use Quotes for
For Example
Speech search syntax
“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all me are created equal” Martin Luther King Speech.
Proper names
“Lucille Ball”
Pages containing lists
“Best book club books”
Common words that are normally ignored
“To be or not to be”
To stop automatic stemming
“Favorite book”
Instructors can use quoted phrases to detect plagiarism by entering the exact phrase from a student’s paper into the search box with quotations surrounding it.
Crafting your Query with Special Characters The – Operator Precede each word you don’t want to appear in any result with a “-” sign. Do not insert a space between the “-” and the word you want to exclude. If you Search
Google Won’t Find
Dolphins -Football
Pages on the Dolphins Football team
Crafting your Query with Special Characters The ~ Operator Find synonyms by preceding the term with a “~”, which is known as the tilde or synonym operator. The “~” operator takes the word immediately following it and searches both that specific word or the word’s synonyms. If you Search
Google will Find
~inexpensive
Inexpensive Cheap Affordable Low Cost
Crafting your Query with Special Characters The OR or “|” Operator If you want Google to pull up pages containing any instead of all of your search terms, use the OR or “|” operator. The OR or “|” operator applies to the search terms immediately adjacent to it. The OR needs to be in upper case, if not Google will treat it as a search term not as an operator. For example Tahiti OR Hawaii
Tahiti|Hawaii
Crafting your Query with Special Characters The .. Operator Specify that results contain numbers in a range by specifying two numbers, separated by two periods, with no spaces. For Example Recumbent bicycle $250...$1000 Russian Revolution 1800..2000
Crafting your Query with Special Characters
The * Operator
Use of the “*” character, known as a wildcard. The “*” operator is used to match one or more words in a phrase. Google treats this as a place holder for a word or more then one word. If you Search
Google will Find
“Google * my life”
Pages that contain a phrase that starts with Google and ends with my life. “Google ruined my life” “Google runs my life” “Google is my life”
Advanced Search When you don’t find what you are looking for in Google’s basic search, try using the Advanced Search option. The advanced search will allow you to tell Google specify what you are looking for; it will allow you to select or exclude pages with more precision than Google’s basic search box.
Questions??? Comments... Contact Tracy Ponder at 417.447.8173
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