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Google Search and Other Google Tools: Google Search - Search Tips

Google is a powerful tool that gives Internet users access to information on a global scale. This guide provides recommendations for better and more accurate searchings.

Most Common Search Modifications

  • Exact phrase searching: Use double quotes round two or more words (e.g., "rocky mountains") to search for those words as a single concept.
  • Remember to use Boolean operators
    • AND - gives fewer results. With the search "peanut butter" AND jelly, you're telling Google to look for results that contain both concepts.
    • OR - gives more total results. With the search "peanut butter" OR jelly, you'll get everything having to do with peanut butter and everything thing that has to do with jelly, and the results may not be related.
    • NOT - gives selective results. With the search "peanut butter" NOT jelly, you'll get all 'peanut butter' results that don't include the concept of jelly.
  • Define words/concepts easily (e.g., define renewable)
  • Google's default is to do both an AND and an OR search for whatever you enter.  So the first few pages, show you the results of the AND search and as you go further and further into the results, they turn into the results of an OR search.