Are+you+Google+Smart?

=Web Search Exit Ticket=

Do you really know how to



When you type something Google, you get literally MILLIONS of hits. That means MILLIONS of sites that you can't possibly review to find the BEST information. Most of us never even get off of the first page or two of results. However, if you know how to use Google effectively, you really shouldn't need to go too far off of the first page or two. These tips will help you make Google work FOR you to find more specific, relevant information when doing any type of school related research, and even for your personal web browsing.

=First of all, there are two important things to avoid when researching =
 * 1) ===Avoid being too general with your search terms ===
 * For example, let's say your research topic is //Lady Gaga's impact on society// (not the most academic topic, but it will work well for an example). Most of you would start your search by typing in: //Lady Gaga//. First of all, just //Lady Gaga// is NOT your topic, and secondly, this brings up almost 300 million hits. The problem is, most of what you will see on the first page or two of results are biographies, information about her videos, concerts, a Wikipedia page, etc. You will have to sort through tons of IRRELEVANT information to find a small nugget that is RELEVANT to your research (i.e. facts about her social impact). See below for tips about better search queries.
 * 1) ===Avoid using questions as search terms. ===
 * You know you've done it...copied a teacher's research question and pasted it right into Google hoping the answer would magically appear! What's wrong with this? To continue with the example above, you might type in: //How has Lady Gaga impacted society?// The problem is this type of search confuses Google and produces results that aren't desirable for academic research. In particular, you will get sites like ask.com, answers.com, yahooanswers, etc. These types of sites allow ANYONE to post answers to questions and, unlike wikipedia, no one monitors the sites or makes changes to false information. NEVER use these types of sites for school research.

Here's what Answers.com and similar sites tells you in their DISCLAIMER:
"Answers does not endorse, approve, or certify such information, nor does it guarantee the accuracy, completeness, efficacy, timeliness, or correct sequencing of such information...None of the licensors, contributors, sponsors, administrators, or anyone else connected with the Services in any way whatsoever can be responsible for the appearance of any inaccurate information"

Are you going to trust them????
=SIX Tips for Helping Google Help You = <span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Note: **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">None of these tips are guaranteed to find you exactly what you want on your first hit. Research is called research because you have to SEARCH and SEARCH AGAIN until you have bits of information you can piece together into something original. Different combinations of search queries will yield different results ****<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">. Experiment! **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**examples**: //Lady Gaga's impact, Lady Gaga's contributions to society, Lady Gaga's influence//
 * 1) **<span style="background-color: #00ffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Use OR or - ** **<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> to connect words or phrases or to eliminate certain words from your search **
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**example:** Lady Gaga social impact OR contributions, Lady Gaga -music ( //<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">will NOT include music in the search findings)
 * 1) **<span style="background-color: #00ffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Enclose a phrase in quotations ** **<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> to find results that contain that exact phrase **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**example:** //"Lady Gaga's impact on teenagers"// or //"Lady Gaga's influence"//
 * 1) **<span style="background-color: #00ffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Search domain by putting the words site:.edu (or.org, .gov, etc.) ** **<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> at the end of a search **
 * **example:** //**l**ady gaga site:.edu// or //lady gaga site:.org//
 * 1) **<span style="background-color: #00ffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Use Google Advanced Search ** **<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> -click on the Advanced Search link right below the search window. This will help you do all of the above, plus more. **
 * 2) **<span style="background-color: #00ffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Let your research GUIDE your research. ** **<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> As you find out more, use this to direct your search queries. In other words, come up with new search terms as you discover more information about your topic. Sometimes browsing sites that might not be totally reliable for academic research, can still give you ideas about digging deeper. Wikipedia is a great example of this. While it is usually not something you want to cite as a resource, it can be a great place to find ideas to extend your research. **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Click here for even more Google search tips from Google themselves
 * <span style="background-color: #00ffff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Here are more search tips from Google to make your search even more productive: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Web history]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Start simple]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Ignore spelling]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Use web friendly words]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Less is more]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Search with an exact phrase]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Use descriptive words]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Don't worry about cases]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Search within a specific site]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Don't worry about punctuation]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Search by file type]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Include or ignore words and characters in your search]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Find related pages]

**<span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 36px;">Most importantly, __ALWAYS__ research like a DETECTIVE! **
**<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 20.8px;">No matter what method you use to search, ALWAYS question websites by asking: **



=<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 38.4px;">wrote, posted or sponsors this information? = == =<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 38.4px;">do I know they know their stuff? =

= = <span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 41.6px; text-align: center;">If you can't answer these questions...DON'T USE THE SITE!