Tag: Google

Last week we brought you a set of tips to power up your Google searches. This week we bring you Part II, other hints & tips from research librarian Ann Cullen. These tricks are more focused on strategies to keep in mind when you are having difficulty finding the information you want or when the results you are getting are questionable in quality. Here are a few of her search strategies: Consider language, what additional terms could be used to describe it? What’s included and what’s missing (phrases, exclude words, synonyms)? Where does this information potentially live (insite, inurl)? What other source might help me get closer to what I’m looking for (trade associations, conferences)? What type of content might it be (filetype, image, diagram)? What’s the credibility of content (source, date range)? If you are really stuck Ann’s recommendation is to combine several options to create a much more powerful search. Consider the following examples that combine last week’s Google tips with this week’s helpful hints. Looking for information on trends in vision correction~vision ~treatment opthamolog* ~trends filetype:pdf 2012..2013Looking for reports on graphene from top consulting firms~graphene inurl:mckinsey | “boston consulting” | bain | booz | deloitte | pricewaterhousecoopers

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In technology transfer, as in many professions, we are constantly on the search for information, be it market data, technical info, or prior art. Our office recently invited research librarian Ann Cullen, from Emory’s Goizueta Business Library, to visit and share her tips on how to use Google to search more effectively and efficiently. It was an enlightening session with lots of helpful hints & tricks for harnessing the search engines powers. Below is a short list highlighting our favorites: Search for a term and its synonyms,  preface it with ~ (e.g., ~energy returns energy, oil, gas) Search within a range of numbers by using an elipse – Number range X..X (e.g., 2007…012) Search titles: intitle:”x” (e.g., intitle:altzheimers or intitle:”cancer treatment”) Search in text: intext:”x” or (e.g., intext:patent or intext:”patent reform”) Search a site: site:”x” (e.g., census site:gov) Search a url: inurl:”x” (e.g., “technology transfer” inurl:*.edu or sequestration inurl:blogs) Find all pages that link a specific page: link:”page url” (e.g., link:emory.edu) Search for a file type: filetype:”x” (e.g., ~cancer ~cost filetype:pdf) Search for similar webpages: related:”page url” (e.g., related:”http://www.heart.org”) Search for definitions: define:”word” (.e.g., define:”global warming”) Ann’s best takeaway however was a simple, but often forgotten, message – take a

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