BARE BONES 101:

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LESSON 13:    GOOGLE: A Closer Look

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DESCRIPTION

Google was created in the winter of 1998 by graduate students at Stanford University and was officially launched in the fall of 1999. From the beginning, Google has endeavored to present a clean, attractive interface. This is a straightforward, easy-to-use engine that doesn't support advanced search syntax but is noted for its highly relevant results. It returns pages based on the number of sites linking to them and how often they are visited, indicating their popularity. Google also saves the last copy of each page it visits under the "Cached" link. If you're seeking a page that no longer exists, you may still be able to find a copy of it at Google. When searching for a specific Web site, try Google's "I'm feeling lucky" button on the main search page. It's very good at coming up with exactly what you're looking for.

SEARCHES IN:

• Own web database
• Google Directory, powered by Open Directory Project
• Optional RealNames directory, for registered brand-names and company names

DEFAULTS TO:

AND

SEARCH OPTIONS

Main Search page supports:

• (+) sign
  (use only to force the engine to search for a stop word, even in phrases in quotes; not necessary to use with regular keywords)
• (-) sign
• Double quotes (" ") for phrases
  (useful, even though Google automatically looks for terms in close proximity)
• Search options for images, groups, and subject directory
• Boolean OR, typed in CAPS (for simple search statements only; and sometimes it doesn't seem to work here either)
• Stop words (which can be searched with + sign)

Advanced Search page supports:

• Boolean type searching with the following phrases: "all of the words," "exact phrase," "at least one of the words," and "without the words"
• Limiting results to different fields (title, text, URL, links) on a page
• Limiting by language, file format (PDF, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.), date range, domain, and content (e.g., "safe searching)
• Displaying results from 10 -100 per page
• Link to Breaking News search
• Links to Page-Specific searches, finding pages similar to the page, and pages that link to the page
• Links to Topic-Specific searches for pages devoted to: all things MAC, BSD Unix, Linux, Microsoft, U.S. Government, and Universities

OTHER SEARCH OPTIONS AND FEATURES

• "I'm Feeling Lucky" button (goes directly to top-ranked site in your query)
• "Similar pages" search (brings up list of related sites)
• Cached page archives (showing copy of page from the last time Google indexed it)
• Results from related pages clustered by indentation

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ASSIGNMENT:

   Search for each of the following by clicking on the "I'm feeling lucky" button:

• speedo
• click and clack
• dubya
• link:www.sc.edu/beaufort/library

Fast Search                                                  Ixquick

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[Table of Contents] [Search Engines] [Metasearchers] [Subject Directories] [Gateways & Databases]
[Evaluating Web Pages] [Search Strategies] [Search Tips] [Boolean Operators] [Field Searching] [Troubleshooting]
[All the Web (Fast)] [Alta Vista] [Ixquick] [Yahoo!] [Final Exam] [Beyond Bones] [User Agreement]

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Links and text checked regularly. Latest update on 11 July 2002. This tutorial was first created in January 2000 by Ellen Chamberlain, library webweaver. Copyright © the Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina. URL: http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/lesson13.html