Google tips

I went to a Technology Expo on Tuesday and the best thing I came home with was...Google tips! These came from Melissa Belvaldi, systems/reference librarian at Maryville University. Here are my favorites.

Ranking. Repeat one of the keywords in your search and that word will be weighted more highly in the ranking. I can't think of an example now, but I know I've done searches where I wanted to pull certain results to the top based on one of my keywords. This will do it.

Number range. Two periods between two numbers is like typing all the numbers into the search box. How do you search for the role of women in work in the 20th century prior to World War II? This gave me some nice results: women work 1900..1941.

Definitions. The search for define:keyword will return definitions. I've used the technique of putting definition along with my keyword which works, but this gets nicer looking results.

Calculator and Converter. The Google search box is a calculator--try typing 2+2. Even better, it's a converter--try 10kg in lbs. It does monetary conversions, too (with a disclaimer).

Synonyms. A tilde in front of the keyword tells Google that you want to search for synonyms of that keyword. One use that will come in handy for me is to use ~St. Louis instead of St. Louis because you never know whether a website will spell it out or abbreviate it.     #

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