Using Google Like a Pro: Part One

Sara T — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:45:48 +0000

Do you ever wonder how some people always seem to find what they’re searching for online? You can become a searching expert, too! All you need are some neat Googling tricks hidden up your sleeve. Today is the first post in a series about using Google like a pro to get librarian-level search results. The first trick I want to share is domain-specific searching.

Domain-specific searching takes your general keyword search and narrows it to a domain (for instance, waukeganpl.org) or a domain ending (.com, .org, .gov and .edu are examples). This type of search is useful if you have a favorite site for information, or you are working on a homework project and need to find reliable information.

Let’s imagine that you’re interested in buying a book, but you want to know whether it’s ever been reviewed by the New York Times. This is the first search you try:

Your results look like this:

Yikes! Not exactly what you’re looking for. Try this little trick for narrowing your results to just the New York Times website:

This time, Google searched only the New York Times website for the phrase President Kennedy: Profile of Power.

The very first result is a link to the book review. When using the site: function, make sure to type the website address or domain ending directly after site: without any spaces. Happy Googling!

Getting the Most from Firefox

Sara T — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:23:24 +0000

Everyone has a favorite browser, and Firefox is mine. Here are some tricks I use to enhance my Firefox experience:

Ctrl + L: To highlight the URL in the address bar
Shift + Enter: Magically adds www. and .com to the phrase you’ve typed in the address bar. For example, nytimes into the address bar, then Shift + Enter. Your phrase morphs into www.nytimes.com and you’re taken to the site.
Ctrl + F: Performs a keyword search on a webpage. This trick works in most browsers. It will increase your searching speed dramatically!
Ctrl + T: Opens a new tab
Ctrl + Tab: Switches among the tabs you have open
Ctrl + W: Closes your current tab
Shopping for gifts? Or maybe you’re a spy? Use Ctrl + Shift + P to enable private browsing.

Waukegan Public Library - internet

Using Google Like a Pro: Part One

Getting the Most from Firefox