Steven Jablonski

Skokie Public Library

The Basics and Beyond

Today’s Agenda• Why Use Google?

• The Basics of Google Search

• Google Tools for Everyone

• Special Google Searches and Databases

• Google Account Goodies

• Google Downloads

• Alternatives to Google

Why Use Google?• Google covers more of the Internet than

any other search engine

• Google’s unique PageRank system leads to better search results– www.google.com/howgoogleworks

• Google constantly improves its searching and adds new features

The Basics of Google Search

• Be specific

• Use multiple terms when appropriate

• Put phrases in quotation marks

• Word order matters—put your most important terms first

• Change your query if you don’t like your results

Google Search Quirks

• Google ignores all capitalization

• Google ignores most punctuation and special symbols

• Google automatically searches for plurals and common variants of words

• Google may adjust its results based on your prior searches

Google’s Advanced Search Page

• Google’s Advanced Search page makes it easy to build complex searches– Include or exclude search terms– Limit search by language, document type, or

safety level– Search only a single site or recently updated

sites

Google’s Preferences Page

• Google’s Preferences page (“Settings” at top of Google page) allows you to customize your search experience– Choose to open your results in a new window– Choose how many results you want to see – Turn Google’s query suggestions on or off– Turn Google’s SafeSearch on or off

Spell Checker and Query Suggestions

• Spell Checker automatically suggests different spellings for questionable search terms– Doesn’t work for words very commonly misspelled

• Query Suggestions automatically guesses what you’re trying to type – Suggestions based on your own and other people’s

previous searches– Can be turned on or off

Google Tools• In addition to searching, Google provides

several useful tools– Calculator– Unit converter– Translator (www.google.com/language_tools)

• These tools are easier to use on the Soople website (www.soople.com) rather than on Google itself

Special Searches• Google provides special search results for

certain queries– Ticker Symbols– Local Business Names – Names of Major Sports Teams

More Special Searches

• Adding words to certain queries prompts special search results– For definitions, add “define:” to a word you

want defined– For weather conditions, add “weather:” to a

ZIP code or name of a city– To see where a current movie is playing, add

“movie:” to the name of a movie

More Special Searches

• See Google’s Features page for a full list of special searches: (www.google.com/help/features.html)

Special Databases• Google News (news.google.com)

– Search 30 days of articles from news sources

• Google Books (books.google.com)– Search the full text of thousands of books

• Google Product Search (www.google.com/products)– Search for products for sale online

Google Maps• Google Maps (maps.google.com) has

several useful features– Map, satellite, and street level views– Customizable driving, walking, and public

transit directions– Nearby businesses with reviews– Searchable by landmark as well as address

Google vs. Bing Maps

• Bing Maps (www.bing.com) is very similar to Google Maps with a few superior features– Better highway traffic info– Better “Bird’s Eye” photos

Google Image Search

• Google Image Search (images.google.com) has several useful features– Search by image size (small, medium, large)– Search by color (black and white, grayscale,

full color)

Google vs. Bing Images

• Bing Images (www.bing.com) is very similar to Google Image Search with a few superior features– Better display of results– More options to refine searches

Google Video• Google Video (video.google.com) has

several useful features– Search on Youtube, Google Video, and other

sources– Search by various criteria (rating, date,

popularity, etc.)

Google vs. Bing Video

• Bing Video (www.bing.com) is very similar to Google Video with a few superior features – Videos start running automatically when you

move your mouse over them– Search only TV shows, News, Sports or other

categories

Google Account Goodies

• Sign up for a free Google Account (www.google.com/accounts) and get even more from Google– Gmail (superior e-mail program)– iGoogle (create your own Google home page)– Google Web History (keep track of all your

Google searches)– Docs & Spreadsheets (create, store, share

files online)

How Can I Remember All This?

• To see all Google has to offer, click on the About Google page (www.google.com/about.html)

• Soople (www.soople.com) provides a single easy interface to Google’s many search features

Google Downloads• Google provides useful free software to

download to your computer– Google Toolbar (add Google features to your

web browser)– Picasa (edit, organize, and share your online

photos)– Google Desktop (search your own computer)– See Google’s Options page (www.google.com

/options) for all available downloads

Alternatives to Google

• Yippy (search.yippy.com) clusters results into useful categories

• Unlike Google and other search engines, Ixquick (www.ixquick.com) doesn’t record your searches

Any Questions?