Most teachers and students depend on Google to gain knowledge. Whenever they need comprehensive information, they make a search on Google. Google is used along with other types of resources such as libraries or even an academic database to do homework. The advantage of using Google search to find educational information is that it is a dependable and precise source of information. However, you must learn how to get this information.
The internet can be a highly valuable resource for teachers and students, and this is why both need to improve their search skills. Here are principles that determine how search engines function that will help teachers and students improve their Google search results.
Searching for a Specific Word Phrase
Generally, Google views a set of words that you key into the search and then looks for matches that are rooted in those words. There are times when Google can decide to split the words you have keyed in on the search or look for words that are synonymous with what you have typed. You can instruct Google not to do that so that only the words you have keyed in are looked for by using quotations to look for a specific word or words.
Instructing Google to Look for Options
You can instruct Google to look for alternatives when you type “OR” in capital letters between the phrases you are searching for. A good example is when you are looking for something like cars. You can use the terms cars “OR” vehicles if you want to broaden your search and do not want to restrict it to a specific phrase.
Ignoring the Use of Options
If you choose to have a search that is narrowed down and does not want to get options on your search results, you can use a hyphen, which is also the minus symbol, to get rid of the options. This will leave out certain words or websites from your search results. The symbol is added right in front of the words or words that would like your search not to include.
This is beneficial when you are looking for something with a double meaning. If, for example, you are looking for a UK mobile operator known as Orange, you will not want the search to return anything to do with the fruit. Your search will look something like this Orange-Fruit-Food.
Restricting Your Search to One Site
If you would like to do a search from just one website or source, you can use the word site and then a colon after the word. You should then key in the website address. This is usually quite a beneficial approach when you would like to look for something from a page or a website that lacks its own search function.
It is also beneficial if Google works better than the search function of the specific website. This approach can also yield broader search results if you limit your search to a specific source such as academic organizations where you would use the search term “EDU” by following the site with the term in quotation marks. This is generally helpful when you have to search for dependable or research-based information.
You could also use site and country code when you are looking for information from a specific place. Sometimes you might have to do a search for pages that are linked to a specific URL or are identical to a URL.
Teachers and students must learn to search for something specific, or their effort will not yield satisfactory results. Narrow your search to a document type, do a search for documents that have been edited prior to or after a particular time or even search for documents using their title. Learning how to make your search on Google will help you find exactly what you are looking for.
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