Using Google effectively, efficiently and critically is vital to finding good (re)sources.
Some tricks for more efficient Google searches:
Finding info on specified pages or domains: Replace “sose” for anything, and replace the website after “site:” with any other site you want to search on:
- sose site:.jaconline.com.au/downloads/sose/ (jacaranda site)
- historian site:theage.com.au = look for the word “historian” anywhere on the site of TheAge.com.au
- Afghanistan site:news.com.au
- “cold war” site:hi.com.au (This is the heinemann site)
So you type your search quiry, then site:thewebsite.com.au
Looking for particular file types:
- ancient civilizations filetype:ppt(Finds only powerpoints with “ancient civilisations” in it)
- causes of “world war I” worksheet filetype:doc (Finds only Word docs with “causes of world war I worksheet” on it)
- “vietnam war” filetype:pdf (Finds only pdf files with “vietnam war” on it)
Use Google as a dictionary:
- define: lycan
- Type: “define:” and the word you’re looking for.
Convert:
Use google as a converter:
- 500 Euro in AUD
- 10 cm in inch
- 50 km in miles
- etc
Great Google overview:
http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html
http://www.eternalcode.com/100-google-tricks-that-will-save-you-time-in-school
Use the search tools:
Great to find certain types of images or narrow your results to a certain timeframe:
Google Scholar
Amazingly useful, but terribly underused by most students, Google Scholar gives access to peer reviewed sources, academic sites and much cited articles. Invaluable when researching history.
