IST 501

Module 9 Advanced Google Searches

When students are searching the internet using Google, one very important tool for K-12
Educators to know about is SafeSearch.

How SafeSearch works

When SafeSearch is on, sexually explicit video and images will be filtered from Google Search
result pages, along with results that might link to explicit content.

Keep SafeSearch locked

If you're on a computer or tablet, you can lock SafeSearch to prevent others from turning
SafeSearch off if you've turned it on. This helps if you have kids around, or you let other people
use your computer.
Use the following link to set up SaveSearch:
https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/510?hl=en&ref_topic=3378866
How to tell if SafeSearch is locked
When the SafeSearch lock is on, you'll see the message 'SafeSearch is locked' and colored
balls at the top of all search pages.

Below are several useful Google Search Operators taken from

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en&rd=1 to help with narrowing my
research topic searches:
Search Operators
+ Search for Google+ pages or blood types
Examples: +Chrome or AB+
@ Find social tags
Example: @agoogler
$ Find prices
Example: nikon $400
# Find popular hashtags for trending topics
Example: #throwbackthursday

- When you use a dash before a word or site, it excludes sites with that info from your results.
This is useful for words with multiple meanings, like Jaguar the car brand and jaguar the animal.
Examples: jaguar speed -car or pandas -site:wikipedia.org
" When you put a word or phrase in quotes, the results will only include pages with the same
words in the same order as the ones inside the quotes. Only use this if you're looking for an
exact word or phrase, otherwise you'll exclude many helpful results by mistake.
Example: "imagine all the people"
* Add an asterisk as a placeholder for any unknown or wildcard terms.
Example: "a * saved is a * earned"
.. Separate numbers by two periods without spaces to see results that contain numbers in a
range.
Example: camera $50..$100

Type into search bar the following boldface words followed by a colon to find:
site: Get results from certain sites or domains.
Examples: To find olympics, type: site:nbc.com and olympics site:.gov
link: Find pages that link to a certain page.
Example: link:youtube.com
related: Find sites that are similar to a web address you already know.
Example: related:time.com
info: Get information about a web address, including the cached version of the page, similar
pages, and pages that link to the site.
Example: info:google.com
cache: See what a page looks like the last time Google visited the site.
Example: cache:washington.edu
Note: When you search using operators or punctuation marks, don't add any spaces between
the operator and your search terms. A search for site:nytimes.com will work, but site:
nytimes.com won't.
OR Find pages that might use one of several words.
Example: marathon OR race
Below are important Google Scholar search tips taken from
https://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/help.html
Search Tips
Get the most out of Google Scholar with some helpful tips on searches, email alerts, citation
export, and more.
Finding recent papers
Your search results are normally sorted by relevance, not by date. To find newer articles, try the
following options in the left sidebar:
1. click "Since Year" to show only recently published papers, sorted by relevance;
2. click "Sort by date" to show just the new additions, sorted by date;
3. click the envelope icon to have new results periodically delivered by email.
Locating the full text of an article

1.
2.
3.
4.

Abstracts are freely available for most of the articles. Alas, reading the entire article may require
a subscription. Here're a few things to try:
click a library link, e.g., "FindIt@Harvard", to the right of the search result;
click a link labeled [PDF] to the right of the search result;
click "All versions" under the search result and check out the alternative sources;
click "Related articles" or "Cited by" under the search result to explore similar articles.
If you're affiliated with a university, but don't see links such as "FindIt@Harvard", please check
with your local library about the best way to access their online subscriptions. You may need to
do search from a computer on campus, or to configure your browser to use a library proxy.
Getting better answers
If you're new to the subject, it may be helpful to pick up the terminology from secondary
sources. E.g., a Wikipedia article for "overweight" might suggest a Scholar search for "pediatric
hyperalimentation".
If the search results are too specific for your needs, check out what they're citing in their
"References" sections. Referenced works are often more general in nature.
Similarly, if the search results are too basic for you, click "Cited by" to see newer papers that
referenced them. These newer papers will often be more specific.
Explore! There's rarely a single answer to a research question. Click "Related articles" or "Cited
by" to see closely related work, or search for author's name and see what else they have
written.