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Advanced Searching

By Mrs. Norman

Librarian/Computer Teacher

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The Library Web Site

  • To find this slideshow and other resources recommended for your class, please visit the library web site at ohslib.info

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An Introduction

Today we will take a quick tour through some ways you can do advanced searches in:

  • Google
  • MARVEL!

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Why is this important?

  • So that you can find what YOU want to find--not what advertisers want you to see
  • To get skills that make searches for school assignments more rewarding and fun (as opposed to frustrating)

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  • Google
  • Google has buttons for their built-in search modifiers
  • These are not databases; they are specialized searches for specific categories of material (most are familiar with Google Images)
  • To cite an image you MUST visit the page where the image was posted and identify the author/organization!!
  • Google Images is a search engine, NOT a source. You should NEVER cite “Google Images”

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Advanced Search

Google keeps moving this around; right now it seems to be under “Settings”

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Advanced Search

You can:

  • Specify an exact phrase (aka put it in quotes “ “) to be included in all results
  • Exclude certain words
  • Limit by language
  • Limit by filetype (selecting a PDF filetype may lead to articles, newsletters, papers, other publications)
  • Limit to a domain (.gov will lead you to government sites; .org will lead you to sites more likely to be non-profit agencies, although not definitively)

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Including and excluding terms: Boolean Logic

  • In quotes = “and”
  • With a negative sign = “not”

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Image source: School District of Onalaska, Instructional Technology page

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MARVEL! . . . and other databases

  • MARVEL! is a collection of high-quality resources licensed for use by all Mainers
  • You can access it directly from school
  • You can also register to create a free login that you can use from home
  • You can access this and more from ohslib.info
    • Also available via RSU13.ORG | Oceanside HS | Academics | Library
  • Like most other modern-day research sources (including Google) they have both simple (default) and advanced search options
  • In general, you will use FEWER WORDS to access most databases (including book catalogs), at least at first, as there are not as many “hits”

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Advanced search of all publications

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Including and excluding terms: Boolean Logic

  • In quotes = “and”
  • With a negative sign = “not”

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Image source: School District of Onalaska, Instructional Technology page

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Trying some different things . . .

  • Change to Boolean from Smart Search
  • Apply Related Words
  • Maybe too few results??
    • => Fewer limiters
  • Too many results?
    • => More limiters

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Limit by year

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Tips

  • Explore your options: try different advanced search options
  • Try different keywords and word/search combinations
  • Try different limiters (by year, by publication type, by language)
  • Keep an eye on the number of hits returned.
    • Millions means that you will not ever hope to see them all
      • That means that you are letting someone else select FOR you (algorithms based on your past searches, who has paid for advertising, etc)
    • Try to limit the number to the MOST relevant set of hits/items
  • Aim for
    • 70-80% of the things on your first screen relevant
    • Only a few thousand (or even a few hundred) mostly relevant citations

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Questions?

  • Please feel free to visit Mrs. Norman in the library or email me at mnorman@rsu13.org