Internet allows us to access amazing range of materials and resources which are previously impossible. It has become an indispensable tool in conducting research and looking for materials that you need in your study. This page provides some important tips to allow you to zero in on the materials which you need quickly. However, do bear in mind the College Policy on Plagiarism as you download the files and information.

Searching Using Google: www.google.com

1. Search is not case sensitive
   e.g. Typing NewfoundLAND, NEWFOUNDland means the same thing to Google.
2. Searching a phrase: enclose in " "
   e.g. To search for the phrase Largest island in the world, you type Largest island in the world.
3. Force a specific search: using the plus (+) sign
   e.g. A search for Star War Episode III will end up with all other episodes. To be specific, you use Star War Episode +III.
4. Force a search: using the minus (-) sign
   e.g. you want to look for movies, but exclude horror movies or cartoon movies. You type: movies -horror -cartoon.
5. Search items of similar types (or synonyms): use tilde (~)
   e.g. to search for impact of global warming on environment, you type: ~impact ~warming ~environment
6. Access a specific topic from a particular website
   e.g. To find out what Intel website mentions about AMD microprocessor, you type: microprocessor + AMD site:www.intel.com
7. Search for a range of number or values
   e.g. To find out the temperature in Bangladesh that ranges between 80°F to 95°F, you type: Bangladesh temperature 80..95 F
8. Search for a particular type of file
   e.g. To search for "Sorting Algorithm" contained in .pdf files, you type: "Sorting Algorithm" filetype:pdf
9. Some keywords you can use to narrow the search:
   
   • allintitle:text -- restrict the results to those with all of the query words in the title.
   • applet:class -- list webpages that contain the class of JAVA applet you specify.
   • image:filename -- search for graphic file
   • link:URLtext -- list webpages that have links to the specified URLtext webpage.
   • related:URLtext -- list web pages that are "similar" to a specified URLtext web page.
10. Learn more from the Google Search Help.

Tips from Searchlores

Searchlores, the mother of all search sites provides a lot more tips on how to search for information.