DP History Research Resources

Google is so easy to use.  You don’t have to be an expert to get great search results, but here are some tips that will help get rid of the stuff you don’t want: 

1. Quotes
   Use quotes around any set of words sought as a phrase (these words in this order). This is especially useful when searching for proper names so you don’t get results where the two words are on the page but unrelated.  
   Example: Compare Gerald Ford to "Gerald Ford". 
2. Exclude
   - can be used to exclude terms,
    
3. Synonyms & OR
   Use synonyms--try to think of several different ways that your search term or concept could be stated. Combine the terms with or. Or must be in caps or it is ignored.
   Example: Compare multicultural to multicultural OR cultural diversity.
4. Search Within Results (still checking to see if this works)
   A little known or used feature is Google’s Search Within Results. When you get millions of hits from a search and you want to narrow it down, just go to the bottom of your results page, select Search Within Results, type in an additional word or phrase to make your results more specific and voilà, now you have fewer results to look through!
   Example: Compare Hawaii to results within: big island.
5. Site Search
   Did you know that you can restrict your search to just one specific site? This kind of search comes in handy when you are pretty sure the information exists on a site, but you can’t find it. To use it, enter your search tem(s) and site:sitedomain. Example: Compare "mla style" to "mla style" site:.edu.
6. Specialized Searches
   Use the specialized searches. Most of them are right there above the search box and they can really save you time: Images, Video, News, Maps, and more. Selecting any of these will narrow down your search to just images, videos, etc. For more specialized searches and other features, go to More Google Products.
7. Use the Search Tools
   Search Tools will appear on your results page after you've searched. With them you can narrow down your search to maps, videos, books, social and much more. It's a great time saver.  

Advanced sounds harder, but what you get are more options for searching.

If you get millions of hits when searching with Google, consider trying Advanced Search. Advanced Search gives you options that allow you to search more precisely, which means you won’t have to look through as many hits to find what you want. As you can see in the image above, you can:

• specify how you want your search terms to be searched.
• limit results by language, date, file format and more.
• Turn on safe search, which filters out sexually explicit content.
• Perform a domain specific search (.org, .edu, .gov)
• Perform a page specific search (google.com)

Predictive Search: Increasing Quality, Enhancing Findability

Search the world's most comprehensive index of full-text books. Google is scanning the entire collection of some of the world's greatest libraries: Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, University of Michigan, New York Public Library and more. Google has millions of books online already. Magazines and newspapers are also available. Go to Google Books now.

Google Books have different levels of accessibility: no preview available, snippet, limited or full view. The views for each book are based on the copyright and copyright owner of each book. If out of copyright, full view. If publisher agrees, limited view. Basic information about the book only, no preview available. The best results tend to be historical, so this feature is best used for subjects like literature and history. Public domain books can even be downloaded in EPUB and PDF format.

Google Books provides many opportunities.  You can: 

• Embed Google books from which students can read the table of contents, search within the book and read as much of it as copyright allows.
• Embed entire public domain books that students can read.
• Embed clips from public domain books.
• Embed a Google magazine.

Try an advanced search to limit your results.  Different ways to limit your search include author, title, subject, and date.

Google Alerts are emails automatically sent to you when there are new Google results for your search terms.

Create a Google Alert
Go to the Google Alerts home page:

1. Enter your search.
2. Select the type of results you'd like (News, Blogs, Video, Discussions, Everything.
3. Select how often you'd like results to be checked.
4. Select number of results to be included.
5. Enter your email address.
6. When done, click the 'Create Alert' button. Google will send you a confirmation email; clicking the link in this email will activate your Alert.

You can create and confirm your Alert in one visit on your "Manage Your Alerts" page. To access this page, you'll need a Google Account. To create your account, click the link at the bottom of the Google Alerts home page or visit the Google Accounts home page directly.

Google Alerts Getting Started Guide
Access this guide to help you get the most out of Google Alerts.

• Create an alert
• Advanced options
• Common questions
• Troubleshooting