Library Guide
Google Searching
Better Google Results. Every Time.
Frustrated at getting poorly matched results when you search Google? Want to find ways of getting to the information you need quickly and effectively, without browsing through hundreds of results? Try these simple tools and techniques and get more relevant results straight away.
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Narrowing Your Search
Phrase Searches What does it do? Searches for an exact phrase rather than for separate words What should I type? “relational aesthetics” What’s the result? Pages that only include the exact phrase “relational aesthetics” and not the separate words “relational” and “aesthetics” Excluded Words and Meanings What does it do? Excludes certain words or meanings of words from your search results What should I type? bass -fishing What’s the result? Pages about bass that are not related to fishing Time Periods What does it do? Restricts your search to within a date range What should I type? pablo picasso 1940…1970 What’s the result? Pages about Picasso’s career, life and art between 1940 and 1970 Individual Site Search What does it do? Restricts your search to pages from a single website What should I type? ceramics site:www.gsa.ac.uk What’s the result? Pages on ceramics from the Glasgow School of Art website. Types of Site What does it do? Restricts your search to particular types of website What should I type? psychology site:ac.uk What’s the result? Pages about psychology from UK academic sites 2
Excluded Sites What does it do? Excludes a particular website from your results What should I type? psychology -site:bbc.co.uk What’s the result? Pages about psychology but excluding pages from bbc.co.uk File Types What does it do? Restricts your search to particular file types such as .pdf, .doc, .ppt, .xls, and .rtf What should I type? “martin creed” filetype:PDF What’s the result? PDF documents about Martin Creed Site Titles What does it do? Restricts your search to website titles What should I type? intitle:constructivism What’s the result? Pages that have Constructivism in their titles Site URLs What does it do? Restricts your search to website addresses What should I type? inurl:pointillism What’s the result? Pages that have Pointillism in their web addresses Site Texts What does it do? Restricts your search to the main text of sites What should I type? intext:divisionism What’s the result? Pages that have Divisionism in their body text
Broadening Your Search
Alternative Terms What does it do? Searches for alternative terms, or different names for the same thing (e.g. aubergine/eggplant) What should I type? exhibitions Paris OR Rome What’s the result? Pages that feature exhibitions in either Paris or Rome Similar Terms What does it do? Searches for words than are related to your search term What should I type? ~sculpture What’s the result? Pages that include the terms “sculpture”, “statue”, and other related terms Proximity Searches What does it do? Searches for a phrase separated by one or more words 3
What should I type? climate * change ; “climate ** change” What’s the result? Pages that include the phrases “climate induced change”, “climate variability change”, etc. If no quotation marks are used, an asterisk can represent one or more intervening words. If quotation marks are used, the number of asterisks determines the number of intervening words. Filter Remove What does it do? Google applies an automatic filter to very large search results, restricting the number of pages listed from each individual website. Filter remove takes away this filter. What should I type? Add &filter=0 at the end of the results URL What’s the result? Unfiltered search results Hyphenation What does it do? Searches for alternative notations of words. What should I type? health-care What’s the result? Pages that include the terms health care, healthcare or healthcare,
Other Searches
Linked Pages What does it do? Searches for pages that link to a particular site What should I type? link:www.gsa.ac.uk What’s the result? Pages that link to the Glasgow School of Art homepage Similar Sites What does it do? Searches for sites that are similar to a particular site What should I type? related:www.gsa.ac.uk What’s the result? Pages from UK Higher Education sites
General Tips
Google automatically excludes common words like ‘where’ and ‘how’ from your search term. Your search result may be affected by the order of your search terms. For instance, “performance art” america will return different results than america “performance art”.
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Google uses automatic stemming for non-phrase searches, so the word ‘sculptural’ will also find pages with the word ‘sculpture’. Google will decide on the pages it thinks are most relevant to you, and will promote these pages to the top of your search results, using a combination of factors such as how often your search term appears, or how many other sites link to the page. But beware! This is an automated process and may not necessarily ensure you receive the most relevant results.
Google Tools
Definitions What does it do? Searches for pages that define a word or phrase What should I type? define:cubism What’s the result? Pages that offer definitions of Cubism, and links to related phrases Calculations What does it do? Provides basic calculator functions What should I type? 67+19 ; 30% of 55 ; 7x9 ; 8/6 What’s the result? Provides an answer to your calculation Conversions What does it do? Converts one measure into another What should I type? 22cm in foot ; 32C in F ; 12$ in pound What’s the result? Provides a conversion Site Information What does it do? Provides links for information on a particular site What should I type? info:www.artnet.co.uk What’s the result? Links to similar sites, sites that link to artnet.co.uk, individual pages within artnet.co.uk, and site cache
Google Services
Google Accessible Web Search http://labs.google.com/accessible/ Prioritises results that are more accessible to blind and visuallyimpaired readers. This service remains in development.
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Google Advanced Search http://www.google.co.uk/advanced_search?hl=en Create highly-refined results using advanced search functions. Google Blog Search http://www.google.co.uk/blogsearch?hl=en Search for blogs that publish newsfeeds. Google Books http://www.google.co.uk/books?hl=en Search the full-text of books and discover bibliographic information, short excerpts, and some full-text content. Google Directory http://www.google.co.uk/dirhp?hl=en Browse the Internet by subject. The Intute subject gateway at http://www.intute.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/ is recommended as an alternative subject directory for art and humanities. Google Images http://images.google.co.uk Search for images from the Web. These images will generally be of a much lower quality than those available through the Library’s image databases such as SCRAN and CAMIO. You can get access to these databases from home over the Internet via your Athens account. If you haven’t yet requested your account, simply email athens@gsa.ac.uk. Google Language Tools http://www.google.com/language_tools Search for sites in different languages and countries, or translate particular websites Google Maps http://maps.google.co.uk Browse or search for UK and international maps. You can also get access to high-quality Ordnance Survey maps through Digimap, which the Library subscribes to. You can get access to Digimap from home over the Internet via your Athens account. If you haven’t yet requested your account, simply email athens@gsa.ac.uk. Google News http://news.google.co.uk Search and browse 4,500 continuously updated news sources. Google News Archive Search http://www.google.com/archivesearch Search news archives and get an historical overview of your results by browsing an automatically created timeline. Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com Search peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts, and articles from academic publishers, professional societies, universities and other scholarly organisations. Read abstracts, or even full-text when available.
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