Getting the Most Out of Google Search Terms

When we are looking for information online, most of us will turn to a search engine at some point. Because we use Google Apps for Education here at StMM, we will be using search tips that are Google-approved. Here are a few that have been shared with the 5/6th graders during their Skills Class time:

1. Focus on keywords: You don't need to ask Google a complete question. 
1. Example: How fast do cheetahs run? This is more words than we need. 
2. Better example: Cheetah running speed - this tells us more closely what we are actually looking for as a search result. 
2. Look for words or phrases that can be reworded to become clearer: 
1. What food does Tyson like best? Like and best are two words that can have different meanings depending on what we want to know. 
2. Try: Tyson favorite foods. Here, the word favorite is stronger and better for our needs.
3. Put important names or places in quotation marks - 
1. "Durham Bulls" in quotation marks tells Google to keep those words together. Otherwise, you may get a lot of results about the city of Durham, or the animal, that you don't want!
4. Sometimes you need to add a word or two: 
1. Tyson favorite food "Percy Jackson" - here we added Percy Jackson to let Google know we're talking about the book series, not Tyson's chicken company!
5. Tell Google what to keep out: 
1. You can tell Google what to take out, if you know. For example: Durham -bull as a search will give you results about the places called Durham, but not results with the word 'bull' in them. 
6. Tell Google where to search: 
1. For government-only results: add site:gov or site:mil
1. WWII site:gov is a great example - try it out!
2. For college or university results, add site:edu
3. For organization results, add site:org
   
   Of course, always make sure that you look for authorship of sites, and copyright dates that work with the kind of information you need. Sometimes, it doesn't matter if a website has been updated - other times it's very important. Happy Searching!