Google and the academic databases to which the Library subscribes share some search strategies in common, while Google also has some that are unique. Use these tips to make Google work better for you.
Symbols to make your search more accurate, which can be used in most databases. Classic operators: and/or/or not
AND
AND brings back results that include both terms listed. However, Google reads "and" between all the words in a search string automatically, so you do not need to use it in a Google search.
OR
Expand your search to all of the results for your terms.
potato OR chip
NOT
- (minus) symbol: If you want to exclude a term, links, or sites to make your search results more specific to your needs.
potato -chip
While in many databases the asterisk allows for the searching of different spellings of a word (cat* = cat, cats, catch, etc), Google includes the different spellings automatically in a search, so the wildcard search here is for full words and terms rather than within a word.
* (asterisk)
Use as a place holder for an unknown word or term.
four *, seven years ago
A search method you can use almost anywhere!
"Quotations"
Put quotes around a multi-word term brings back the exact quoted phrase in word order.
"potato chip"
Important: Do not put a space between the operator and the search term, or Google won't interpret it correctly.
Only search on certain sites. Use an asterisk to search for all sites with a particular domain.
potato site:nytimes = Posts from the NY Times that mention the word potato
potato -site:wikipedia.org = Results about potatoes but NOT any from wikipedia.org
potato site:*.gov = Results about potatoes from government sites/agencies
Search for sites that link to a certain URL.
link:stevens.edu
Get information about the URL and related sites to your search. Can include cache information too.
potato info:fda.gov
Look for a particular type of file like pdf, jpg, png, etc.
potato info:fda.gov filetype:pdf
Look for a word in the title.
intitle:potato
Social media searches.
@scwlibrary
#stresslessatthelibrary
Try these:
potato intitle:chip filetype:pdf
"potato chip" intitle:bag filetype:pdf
Search engines beyond Google are out there! To find the best alternative for you, it's useful to consider what you want out of it, such as:
Review your options and try a sample search to see which works best for you.
Here's a short introduction to how it works (though with the very positive attitude you'd expect from a company talking about itself and not a lot of reflection).
You can limit what they track about you through your privacy settings.
For articles that you cannot locate with Google Scholar, try the search box on the Library website.
If you still cannot locate what you need, you can make requests via Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
