As librarians and as regular users of the Internet, we use Google routinely multiple times a day. Chances are that most of us are only using a part of what Google offers. Google is changing almost daily from adding small refinements to adding whole new services. One part of becoming a Google Power User is keeping up with Google. Another part of becoming a Google Power User is knowing where to go to find what is already available and how to use it.
For a quick introduction to Google’s extras, please read David Pogue's recent article from the NY Times: Geniuses at Play, on the Job
How many Google features, services or tips mentioned in the article were new to you?
To begin the challenge start by clicking About Google on the Google homepage.
Notice everything from the stories behind the Google Logos, to the Google Blog and a must for any aspiring Google Power User, Google Labs is linked here.
Google calls Google Labs its technology playground where they try out new ideas. Google Labs has just been reorganized in appearance in mid April. Be sure to read about all the projects still in the Labs (even on the 2nd page!) and check out the links for the Google Labs alumni on the left of the page.
The Google Blog is where announcements of new features, enhancements and even Google contests for children are made. People thought they found Atlantis in the new images of the Ocean floor posted in Google Earth. Did they? Read this post for the story.
Some examples of how knowing more about Google can help you:
A teenager walked in about 15 minutes before closing on a Saturday in full panic because they needed another source “not the Internet” for their report on a rather obscure NJ murder case from the very early 1900’s. I couldn’t find anything in our crime reference books and the student refused the NY Times coverage from the microfilm because “it has to be in a book.” I used Google Book Search and found a chapter on the murder in a book we own and that was checked in. I went to the shelf, confirmed the material was there and the student ran downstairs just in time to check in the book out.
A woman requested the full text of a poem called Caprice by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. A branch really worked hard on the question checking all of Lindbergh's books and many poetry anthologies but they couldn’t find a poem by that title. Using Google Book Search, I found several books that mentioned the poem as one she wrote while still in college. Finally, I found a book in Google Book Search that had the poem but because of copyright restrictions Google Book Search didn’t display the whole poem. Luckily, we owned the book. I was able to photocopy the complete poem and mail it to the customer. Notice in the image below that p. 124 is not available because of copyright. It had the beginning of the poem.
Books are available in Google Book Search fulltext, selections or snippet view (a few sentences before and after your search term) depending on the copyright restrictions. Use Google Book Search to get so much more out of your book collection than the subject headings in the catalog can possibly give.
Google News Archive Search
Go to Google News and look near the top right for the link to the archives search. This is a quick way of scanning the complete New York Times archives as well as a growing collection of material going back to the 19th century.
Google Advanced Searching
Limit your results to broad domains (site:edu, site:gov, site:org, site:mil, etc.) or to specific sites: site:oceancountygov.com OR site:app.com
Limiting by broad domains is great to get rid of commercial sites. Limiting to specific websites is very helpful when a site doesn’t have a search engine or the search engine isn’t very good.
Limit your results to specific file types
Need to create a powerpoint on a topic? See what others have done by limiting your results to Powerpoint presentations.
To find powerpoint presentations, add filetype:ppt to your searches
To find Adobe pdf documents, add filetype:pdf to your searches
That completes the background to get you started. Now the exercises to complete the challenge.
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1. Visit Google’s page on search features and try out at least one search in each of the seven categories :
Everyday Essentials
Reference Tools
Search by Number
Trip Planning
2. Search a major disease like diabetes or arthritis or influenza in Google. Then add site:gov to the search. Compare results. Try adding site:edu instead of site:gov to get results from college and university sites instead of government sites.
3. The State of NJ’s website doesn’t have the greatest internal search engine. Use Google to search just within the NJ state site: site:nj.gov or site:state.nj.us will both work.
4. Compare regular Google and Google Book Search for local history.
Search together: "point pleasant" o'neill
5. Add an RSS feed to the Google blog on your challenge blog. This will make it easy to see new posts. Even if you have a regular RSS reader, add the feed to your blog so the Coordinator can see it. You don’t have to read every Google blog post completely or check for new posts everyday but for this month check it at least once a week for anything you might find interesting.
(If you don’t know how to make an RSS feed on your blog, here are some hints, Log in to your blog, look for Layout, then Add a Gadget, then Feed. To get the url for the feed look for the RSS logo in orange at the Google blog website. Right hand click on the logo, then click copyshort See if you can figure out the rest. For some basic info on RSS feeds, watch this Youtube video.
6. Blog twice this month: One post about a Google blog post you read and the other post about anything else you learned about Google in this Challenge through your reading or your practice searches. Stories where you used something you learned to help a customer or yourself or another employee are especially welcome.
Additional material for the true Google fans
10 top Google Hacks
Printable posters with Google search tips -great for teaching Google
Google Help Centers
Google cheatsheet
and finally and only to be used with those who ask you simple questions that Google can answer easily but they insist on asking you to find the answer anyway (never use this with customers and only with staff that have a sense of humor!)
Let me Google that for you You create a search on this site and it creates a short video showing the Google search and the phrase:” Was that so hard?” You then email the link to your friend or victim! Here’s a sample
I have a small chocolate prize for the funniest Let me Google that for you video sent me by March 20. I am the final judge of funny for this contest! Cheers!
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