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Google Searching

This guide provides tips and techniques for searching Google.

Web Searching Tips: Domain Extensions

Domain extensions are one clue as to what type of agency posted that site.  Common domain extensions include:

.com  commercial         

.edu   education

.gov   government         

.mil    military

.net    network

.org   organization (non-profits)

Who Owns a Site?

You can evaluate a site by finding out who the owner of the site is. You can do that at

http://www.easywhois.com/index.php  Just type in the URL of the site you want information on and you can find out who is the registered owner of that site. You can then go on the Web to search for that person or organization to find more information.  It will also list contact information for those responsible for the site.

Advanced Operators

Domain Searching

site:(url of website)
Use site:(url of a website) to specify that your search results come from a specific website. Example: a search for [Barack Obama site:azcentral.com ] will return pages about Barack Obama but only from azcentral.com.

site:domain(s)
Limit your search to a specific domain or exclude a domain by typing site:edu (or whatever domain you prefer) after your search terms.  Exclude a specific domain by typing site:com (or whatever domain you prefer) after your search terms.  Example: A search for [environment site:gov ] will return results about the environment only from a .gov domain.
 

Field Searching


intitle:
Use the intitle: operator if you want to find more specific sites on your subject.  This operator will search for your terms in the title of documents.  Example: A search for [hieroglyphics] will bring up 1,540,000 results.  A search for [intitle:hieroglyphics] will bring up 172,000 results.

 

allintitle:
Use the allintitle: operator if you have a longer search string you want to search.  Example: A search for [national parks OR reserves] will bring up 40,200,000 results.  A search for [allintitle:national parks OR reserves] will bring up 6,420,000 results.

 

inurl:

Use the inurl: operator to find sites that have your subject in their url.  Example: A search for [inurl:transportation] will being up the following sites - transportation.stanford.edu/, www.state.nj.us/transportation/, transportation.house.gov/....

 

Useful in Evaluating a Website

 

link:
Use the link: operator to find pages that link TO the site you are evaluating. If the site is linked on other sites that you recognize as credible, that helps to establish the credibility of the site under evaluation.  If you search  [link:martinlutherking.org], a list of white pride sites will come up so you know that this site is not what it seems. 

  

related:
Use the related: operator to find pages that are related to your site.  This will help you evaluate the site by viewing the links in and out of the site.  You can also use the related: operator to find sites similar to your site.

  

info:
Use the info: operator to find information about your site. 
Example: A search for [info:www.rythospital] will tell you that this site contains fictitious information.  It will also give you the option to show Google's cache for the site, find pages similar to the site, find pages that link to the site, find pages from the site (pages within the site), and find pages that contain the url of the site