Command Description Syntax Rules

AND Requires both char strings on webpage james AND smith Uppercase AND

OR Requires either (or both) char string on webpage james OR smith Uppercase OR

“ “ Requires all the char’s in that order “james smith”

- (NOT) Exclude pages with these char’s -new york No space after oper

~ Find webpages with Google’s list of “synonyms” ~genealogy No space after oper

* Finds strings with any word betw two terms “james * smith” Requires quotes

+ Preempts stemming tom hill +died + same as “died”

numrange Defines start & end point of a numeric range 1782..1804 No spaces, two dots

AROUND() Limits # words found between 2 search terms faith AROUND(2) baker Uppercase

site: Search or exclude specific site -site:www.census.ca

filetype: Limit search to a specific filetype anna day filetype:pdf ext: is exactly same

intext: Limit search to Keywords in body of webpage intext:”tom hill” essex

intitle: Limit search to Keywords only in webpage title intitle: “dufresne family”

related: Returns sites related to a target site related:www.smith.org (also try similar:)

Google Search Operators & Commands

Phrase searching

Phrase searching is used to retrieve a string of words (instead

of a single word).

Look at the following example:

You might be looking for information on teenage abortions. Each of these

words, when standing alone, has a different meaning and will retrieve

irrelevant documents, but when you put them together the meaning changes

to the precise concept of "teenage abortions". For the database to understand

your search, you should put your phrase in inverted commas. Type your search

as follows: "teenage abortions"

Additional Search Techniques

Truncation:Use an asterisk (*) to stand for any character or string of characters. This is a great strategy to use if you want to find multiple spellings or word endings.

Example:

Child* (searches for child, children, childhood, etc.)

Terror* (searches for terror, terrorist, terrorism)

Additional Search Techniques

Google’s advanced search

Google's spell checker automatically defaults to the most common spelling of a given word, whether or not you spell it correctly

Search isn't case sensitive; enter either upper or lower case keywords

Google searches on every word you enter. Each additional word limits results

Precede your query with site: if you know you want your answer from within a specific site or type of site

Search ignores punctuation

Google assumes an “AND” if you enter more than one keyword.

Shortcuts in Google’s basic search box: + for AND - for NOT

Google Searching Tips

Boolean in Google

Query modifiers

file types

define

Wild Card Word in Phrase (WCWIP)

Advanced Features of Google

Use these commands in the search window. intitle:test allintitle:test results inurl:testresults allinurl:testresults personality allintext:test results personality allinanchor:test results personality site:loc.gov filetype:doc

Query modifiers

intitle:test results

ALL of the search terms will be found in the title.

allintitle:test results

inurl:test results – only test must be found in the web address (URL)

inurl:test results

Both test AND results must be found in the web address.

allinurl:test results

Sometimes you get pages that do not have your search term/phrase in them. Why? Because Google also searches for pages that

just link to the target page.

Use allintext to get only those pages that have your search terms in them. Compare the searches in the next two slides…

allintext

1. crash test results

2. allintext:crash test results

Limit your search to a specific web site.

Enter search terms then qualifier.

EXAMPLES: “elephant race” site:fullerton.edu

Finds elephant race(s) on the Cal State Fullerton site dinosaur site:si.edu

Finds dinosaur on the Smithsonian Institute site One more…

Site:

"java developer" site:linkedin.com

You can specify a type of document to search.

EXAMPLES:

pdf – Adobe readable files doc – Microsoft Word documents mdb – Microsoft Access databases jpg, gif, tif – graphics, photos ppt – Microsoft PowerPoint presentations

filetype:

will provide definitions of the words, gathered from various online sources.

define:

Using a wildcard (*) for a character does not work in Google.

cat* returns the same results as cat. However…

You can replace unknown words with an asterisk (*).

Wild Card Word in Phrase *

X-Ray Search (LinkedIn from Google)

(current | present) AND intitle:("Project Manager" | "Project Engineer") AND intext:("ACMV" | "Air Conditioning Mechanical Ventilation") AND (Building | water | filtration | filter) AND project AND management AND Mechanical -inurl:(dir|job|jobs|title) site:sg.linkedin.com

Final set of query ready for search

Blue highlighted words are the search operators.

Result