When using Google to find articles, here are some steps for making your search more effective:
Use the correct tool for the kind of search you are conducting.
For general searches of popular sources, use regular Google.
For academic or scholarly articles, use Google Scholar.
To browse Google's database of digitized book sections, use Google Books.
Google's Advanced Search page enables you to limit your search by date range, language, and file type (.pdf, .doc, .jpeg, etc.) while also giving you the ability to bring up similar entries or websites from a particular locale.
To use Boolean search terms (AND, OR, NOT).
Google implies "and" when you search. So, if you type Tom Jerry, it assumes Tom and Jerry.
Google only recognizes "OR" when it is capitalized.
Instead of NOT, Google uses a minus sign. So, Chicago NOT New York would be Chicago - New York.
Use quotation marks to indicate words that should be grouped together, like "Wyatt Earp."
To direct Google to search for specific domain types, type "site:" For instance: global warming site:.gov
Did you know that Google Scholar offers some helpful options under their menu? You can star results to read later, and you get set up alerts to let you know when something new is published about your topic. You can open the Advanced Search interface. And under Settings you can set up Library Links, which will let you know when an article is available in your library's databases.
