Here is a post worth looking into. It came to my attention in a mail from Caitlyn Hewitt. Thank you for that. Even if we have ChatGPT and the New Bing, it is worth looking at how we search for information and what can help us improve our browsing experience.
The original blog post found here
I have shared the 10 first tips here. For the remaining look at the website. In addition, there is a handy explanation of how to search for images.
🧑‍🎓 Best Google Search Tips for Students
Let’s get straight to the point. We’ll start with these life-saving Google tips that every student should know.
- Use quotation marks.
Google Search algorithms aim to match the words you type, but they don’t necessarily maintain those words in the same order. If it is essential to keep the original wording or you’re looking for an author of a particular quote, use quotation marks:
“I think, therefore, I am.” - Exclude words from Google search.
If you want to narrow your results, you can exclude certain words by adding the “-” sign in front of them. For example, if you’re writing an essay on a book, you can omit all the results related to a movie with the same name by typing it like this:
Little Women -movie -2019 - Search within one website.
This tip is perfect when you want to focus on the content of one particular website. For example, if you want to see if the website has covered the topic of banking, type the following:
site:business-essay.com banking - Search within one country.
The same trick works when limiting your results to a specific geographical location. For example, if you want to know more about Walmart shops in Canada, type the following:
site: CA Walmart - Use “OR” to get more options.
By typing “OR” between words, you tell Google to look for matches to either of the terms. Imagine you’re collecting resources on the topic of business communication. Try this to get better results:
“business relations” OR “business ethics” - Search for old news articles on Google news.
When looking for historical materials, visit news.google.com and check their archive. Type in your keyword and browse all the articles from oldest to newest or vice versa. - Quickly get the definition you need.
You shouldn’t have to dig around various web pages to find the definition you need. Instead, type in “define [word]” in the Google search box. - Use * to fill in the blanks and get more search options.
Usually, when you start typing, Google autocompletes your search and provides an answer. However, if that doesn’t give you the desired result, you can add the “*” wildcard to get your answer. For example, if you wonder how many employees Adidas has, type this:
Adidas has * employees. - Use “Related:” to find similar websites.
Another valuable Google search trick is writing “Related:” before a website’s name. Google will show you similar websites and exclude the ones you’ve mentioned.
To see websites similar to Wikipedia, you can type the following:
related:Wikipedia.org. - Find references on Google Books or Google Scholar.
Thankfully, you don’t have to spend long hours in libraries searching for books. You can browse Google Books or Google Scholar to find all the necessary information.