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Research Techniques
Google Tips
When using Google and other search engines to locate primary sources, it is important to understand that not everything is available from your home computer. An unsuccessful search does not mean materials about your topic do not exist, but rather it may be necessary to contact or visit the repository in person.
Tips for effectively searching Google's millions of indexed pages for primary source materials
Place phrases in "quotes." This is particularly
helpful when searching for proper names.
Use special collections-specific terms such as "records," "archives," "papers," and "manuscripts" to locate relevant primary source material.
Google excludes
common words and characters as well as single digits and letters. If these
are important to your search place a "+" in front of the word
or number. Be sure to include a space before the plus sign.
You can exclude
irrelevant terms from your search by placing a "-" in front
of words related to the meaning you want to avoid. Be sure to include
a space before the minus sign.
For Example...You are researching the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century and want information on reformer Martin Luther. You type "Martin Luther" into Google and receive 74 million hits. By typing "Martin Luther" - king the number of hits is reduced to a mere 12 million. While the number of hits using the "not" operator is significantly reduced, this is also a good example of how too many hits may not be useful. In this case, it might be more productive to look at several books about the Protestant Reformation and see which primary sources the authors used. |
