Bookmarks for Extreme Googling

CONTENTS:

 

 

1. Google Core Services

4. Google Tools and Features

7. High-Quality Subject Directories

2. Second-Party Google Tools & Info Sites

5. Googling Help - The "Google Guide"

8. Useful Bookmarklets for Searching

3. Google Family of Databases

6. Other Search Engines & Their Shortcuts

9. Optional Interesting Reading

1. Core Google Services

Google Basic Web Search

http://www.google.com

THE page to start from and for most web page searching.

Google Advanced Web Search

http://www.google.com/advanced_search

Useful to change language of results pages, select from a list of filetype formats, or change content filtering for a single search.  It's better to learn to use commands from Basic Search, because Advanced Search offers fewer options.

Google Directory

http://www.google.com/dirhp

Open Directory Project's 5 million selected sites, enhanced by Google ranking.

2. Second-Party Google Tools & Info Useful with Google

Country Codes and Other TLDs List

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_TLDs

All two-letter country codes and other authorized top level domain codes (TLDs).  From useful online Wikipedia.

Pageinfo Better Than Google's:  alexa.com

http://www.alexa.com/

Enter a URL in the search box.  Click links under "Explore this site." Receive traffic ranking, links to the page, related pages, contact information, and access to page history by clicking on the link to the Wayback Machine Internet Archive.

3. The Google Family of Databases

Google Groups

http://www.google.com/grphp

Usenet Newsgroups since 1981 on many topics.  Advanced Groups Search allows limiting by group, author, subject field, message ID, date, and filtering.  Google Account (free) required to participate in groups.

Google Images

http://www.google.com/imghp

Over 800 million images.  Advanced Image Search allows limiting by filetype, size, colors, site or domain; and changing filtering.

Google News

http://news.google.com

4,500 news sources, covering last 30-days.  Advanced News Search allows limiting by source, location, headlines, body, URL, and date.

Google Local and Maps

http://local.google.com/

Drag to map area, search for cities or zip codes, view satellite image, get local information about businesses and services, find driving directions. Search web pages and yellow pages, specifying both a locality and item or topic to search for.  Results match words and offer helpful subdivisions within results.  Can limit to 1, 5, 15, 45 mile radius.

Google Books Search

http://books.google.com
Search for book titles. Search within some books. Links to booksellers and to libraries in some situtations (mostly when not for sale, it seems). May need to register with Google to view some books (free).

Google Scholar

http://scholar.google.com
Search citations of scholarly journal articles. Integrated with some academic libraries' holdings. Still expanding.

Google Video

http://video.google.com
Search for videos. Search uses closed captioning. Many may be viewed for free, some for sale.

Google Shopping:

Froogle

http://www.google.com/froogle

Froogle offers thousands of merchant-supplied catalogs and web pages, mostly keyed to websites.  Froogle Advanced Search allows limiting by price range, category, where words occur in entries, and filtering; also change display by store and layout. 

4. Google Tools and Features

Google Toolbar Download

http://toolbar.google.com/

For browsers other than IE, Firefox, and for Macs: http://googlebar.mozdev.org

Google Preferences

http://www.google.com/preferences

Google Filetypes

http://www.google.com/help/faq_filetypes.html

Google Language Tools (including Translation)

http://www.google.com/language_tools

Google Features (Shortcuts) Described

http://www.google.com/help/features.html

Google Government Search

http://www.google.com/ig/usgov

Limits searches to US govt sites

Google University Searches

http://www.google.com/options/universities.html

Limits searches to university's site.  List of  universities provided

Google Labs

http://labs.google.com/

Upcoming and emerging Google technologies.

5. Googling Help - Further Explanation of Google's Features

Google Guide by Nancy Blachman

http://www.googleguide.com

Very well written, fairly comprehensive online guide to many of the features of Google, with exercises and answers. Excellent section on Google Shortcuts. Written by a Google fan, who is also a mathematician, the Guide sometimes errs in favor of overlooking some of the frustrating and puzzling aspects of Google. Very useful to teach others the basics of Google and Google's family of databases and features. Use online through the CLICK TO BEGIN button, and choose a novice or experienced user level. Also available in printable PDF for a small fee.

6. Other Search Engines and Their Shortcuts

Yahoo! Search - http://search.yahoo.com/

Yahoo! Shortcuts List - http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts

Yahoo! Education and Reference Collections - http://education.yahoo.com/

Ask.com - http://ask.com

7. High-Quality Subject Directories - When Search Engines Aren't Enough

Librarians' Index to the Internet - LII.ORG

Internet Public Library Pathfinders - http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/

Academic Info - http://www.academicinfo.net

Infomine - http://infomine.ucr.edu/

8. Useful Bookmarklets for Searching

"Bookmarklets for Searching" article

http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/bmlets/

Greg Notess's collection of bookmarklets that may be useful in searching. From SearchEngineShowdown. Offers bookmarklets for transferring the same search terms to another search engine. For instance, you've tried Google and you wonder how the same search terms would work in another search engine.
NOTE: To use these or any other bookmarklets, drag them into your bookmarks, personal toolbar, links bar, or equivalent in your browser:

Bookmarklets for searching your library catalog

http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/stories/2002/12/11/librarylookup.html

Jon Udell's Bookmarklets to check, for many OPACs worldwide, if a book is in a library, once you know its ISBN (for instance, you are working from Amazon.com or another database with ISBNs).

9. Optional Interesting Reading about Searching and Googling

GMail: Google Storms the Webmail Market

http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/jul04/wiggins.shtml

Thorough, objective review of value and downsides of Google's email service.

Searcher, vol. 12, no. 7, July-August 2004.

"The Nature of Meaning in the Age of Google"

http://informationr.net/ir/9-3/paper180.html

For anyone interested in the big picture of Google's impact on "meaning," a think piece on the effect of Google's success on indexing, web authoring, research, and other heavy topics.

Information Research, vol. 9, no. 3, April 2004

"Coming Soon:  The Death of Search Engines"

http://www.llrx.com/features/deathsearchengine.htm

A think piece by Canadian search expert Rita Vine on trends and what search engines are not succeeding at.

Google Satire: FLASH humor from UK

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~pcxee/google_flash.htm

 


 

Extreme Googling 2006 - This material has been created by Joe Barker for the Infopeople Project [infopeople.org], supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian. Any use of this material should credit the author and funding source.