Google: Power Searching with Google

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About this course

Get the most out of your search engine skills!

While searching on the Internet is easy and fast, it’s not intuitive or straightforward. This course, Power Searching With Google, covers everything you need to know to become a power searcher, someone who can find information quickly, effectively, and accurately.

This course will cover everything from search basics (how to make an effective query), up through advanced search tips and search feature methods (using operators like intext: filetype: and site: to narrow your search), along with ways to determine if what you’re finding is credible. Each unit covers a fundamental aspect of online search, teaching you to be more guided and precise in your online research.

Your instructor, Daniel Russell, has been on the inside of the Google Search engineering team since 2005. His research on how people use online search tools to find what they seek gets translated into effective tips and tricks everyone should know.

At a glance

What you’ll learn

  • How to create an effective query, including how to choose the right keywords
  • The inside story of how Google creates its index and serves up good results to your query
  • How to use all of the advanced operators, including how to read the inside of a URL to your advantage
  • How to determine if a site is credible or not
  • Ways to use image searches to find examples of things you need (in ways you haven’t heard about)
  • How to use Google Scholar, the repository of peer-reviewed scholarly information
  • How to use Google Books for more than extracting a quote from a famous author

Syllabus

Lesson 1

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Tools menu, filtering by color and image type

1.3 How search works

1.4 Art of keyword choice

1.5 Word order matters

1.6 Shortcut for finding text on a webpage

Lesson 2

2.1 Suggestions as you type and Related searches

2.2 From idea to understanding Using define:

2.3 Different modes of content: Web, News, Images, Shopping, Videos

2.4 Reading the SERP: Lateral Browsing

2.5 Google Scholar and Google Patents

Lesson 3

3.1 How the web is organized (and why you need to know)

Deep web vs. Visible web

3.2 Filetype: operator

3.3 Minus operator

3.4 The OR operator and Using double quotes

3.5 In-text operator and Advanced Google search

4.1 Search by image

4.2 Shortcuts: weather, flight information, and time

4.3 Use Google’s calculator for conversions

4.4 Date range limiting

Lesson 5

4.5 Using Advanced Search to limit by region/language & Google Translate

5.1 Understanding ranking/verifying via image search and multiple perspectives

5.2 Data changes depending on the question asked/Confirmation bias

5.3 Verifying quotations using Google Books

5.4 Who owns a website?

5.5 Common misconceptions in online search

Lesson 6

6.1 Combining search methods

6.2 How to think broadly in your searching

6.3 After the class: How to stay on top of things

About edX

edX is the online learning platform from world-leading digital education company 2U, Inc.

edX was founded by Harvard and MIT as an experiment to make the world’s best education available to everyone. Today, as part of 2U, edX connects over 81 million people worldwide with online learning that delivers real professional progress across nearly every career discipline, from artificial intelligence and robotics to sustainability and public health. Together with universities and organizations at the forefront of their fields, edX offers thousands of job-relevant programs designed to give every ambitious learner a path to achievement.

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