Search Tactics & Strategies A Teach-In: Daniel M. Russell, Ph.D. Google Search User Experience Research

 

  earch tact tactics ics & st strat rategies… egies… a Teach-in

Daniel M. Russell, Ph.D. Google Search User Experience Research

Nov 20, 2008 

 

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Topics

• Ho How w to u use se iint nter erne nett se sear arch ch a and nd iint ntern ernet et rreso esour urce cess • Develop effective search query formation • Learn how to evaluate the trustworthiness of web sites • Special advanced features and tricks-of-the-trade

 

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  earch changes everythi everything ng

• You Yourr exp experi erienc ence e of th this is ta talk lk iiss rad radica ically lly cha change nged d fro from m wha whatt it w was as ju just st a few years ago. • Now if I say something like…

“…this topic is much so much more interesting if you first have a bumper of Nottingham ale…”  ale…”   

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Nottingham Notti ngham Ale

 

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W hat you need to to know…

 

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► Search literacy  • Si Six x ki kind ndss of k kno nowl wled edge ge & sski killllss ne need eded ed tto o se sear arch ch:: site: ricoh.com “double quotes” minus (as exclude)

pure engine technique

search strategy

 

plus (include) filetype:pdf  intitle:”cheat sheet” … etc …

knowing when to shift knowing when to stop move from wide to narrow preserving state…

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medical knowledge plumbing knowledge

domain knowledge

information mapping

English lit world languages …

reverse dictionary keyword frequencies contents of domains Wikipedia knowing what’s available … etc…

 

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Is this believable? How does this link to

assessment

other information I already know? What is the relationship of this information to authoritative sources?

site-specific knowledge

 

Knowing particular layout and features of a site (metadata sort/filter; variant query mechanisms; location of “print version” alternate view)

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  ix com components ponents of experti expertise se

 

pure engine technique

domain knowledge

assessment

information mapping

search strategy

site-specific knowledge

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►  

The Art of  Keyword Choice  

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Hints to choose keywords… keyw ords…

1. Thi Think nk abou aboutt w what hat you you’re ’re try trying ing to fin find d 2. Choo Choose se wo words rds tthat hat y you ou th think ink wil willl ap appear pear on th the e pag page e 3. Put y yours ourself elf iin n the m mind indset set o off the au autho thorr of th those ose wo words rds  

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  Choos Choosing ing the ri right ght keywo keywords rds

[ small note chant notation ]

 

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Ah ha!

• From: http://lphrc.org/Chant/  http://lphrc.org/Chant/ 

 

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  W hen you’r you’ree choosing search keywords…

• Wh When en yo you ue eat at p pig ig,, th the em mea eatt iiss ccal alle led d “p “por ork. k.”” When you eat sheep, the meat is called “mutton.” When you eat deer, the meat is called “venison.”

• Suppose Suppose you visit your cousin in Sydney, Australia and they serve grilled kangaroo. What’s another word for “ka “kangaroo ngaroo meat”?

 

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  olution:

• Search for [ kangaroo meat name ]  ]  • Scan through the results looking for a page with a plausible answer  – There are a number of ways to do this… the variations v ariations all have different amounts of scanning  – Wikipedia (as it turns out) has a very nice article on this… with discussion of the controversy

 

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  Think about synonym s

• Whe When n an a arti rtist st is m maki aking ng a sscul culptu pture re ffor or a cl clien ient, t, th they ey of often ten m make ake a small version of the sculpture in wax or clay. They’re usual a preliminary sketch, presented to the client for approval

• Question: What is this thing called?

 

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Answer

• Th The ee eas asie iest st so solu luti tion on I ffou ound nd wa wass [ small artist model in wax ] – ] – then read through the snippets to find a definition.

• To double check, you can use Google as a dictionary: [ define:maquette ]]  

•  An important skill… reading through the snippets

 

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  Asking about the un-namable un-nama ble

I noticed the other day that everyone has a little indentation on their upper lip.

Question:   What’s that thing called? Question:

 

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Answer

• St Star artt wi with th tthe he ssim impl ples estt se searc arch h yo you u ca can n th thin ink k of of:: [ upper lip indentation ] If it’s not right, you can always modify it. • When I did this, I clicked on the first result, which took me to Yahoo  Answers. There’s a nice article there about something called the philtrum . • Then I double checked on that by doing a [ define:philtrum ]]  

 

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  Use context tterms erms

• Iw was as hi hiki king ng in th the ew woo oods ds ne near arby by in March when I saw a pretty blue flower. It was about 3 feet high, and grew along the pathway in the middle of the woods in Henry Coe State Park.

• Question:  Question:  Here’s the picture… can you tell me what the common and Latin name is of this flower?

 

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Answer: Answ er: Wil Wildfl dflower ower image

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Search: web for [ wildflowers henry coe park ]  ]   – Look for collections of pictures. Look for a matching / similar picture.  – http://www.coepark.org/wildflowers/blue/blue.html  

•  Answer:  Answer:   Hound's tongue (Cynoglossum grande )

•

Path:

california  ], but that didn’t work. I started with [ blue wildflowers california   Added [ blue wildflowers album california california  ], as a context term… but still too many bad hits.

     

  Then shifted to using location name  as  as my context term (and removing all the other words), giving me: [ wildflowers henry coe park ] I noticed the exact hit at position #1.

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  Go Going ing deeper on a topic

• I kin kind do off llike ike tha thatt w wild ildflo flower wer!! Wha Whatt e else lse can I fin find do out ut abou aboutt it? • Where does it grow near me? • Does it like to live in the sun or the shade? • Question: How can you find out more gardening information about this particular wildflower?

 

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Answer: Answ er: Going deeper

• I st start arted ed w with ith the Lat Latin in n name ame bec becaus ause e it it’s ’s tthe he MO MOST ST sp speci ecific fic ter term m you can use. So I did a copy & paste from the previous search: ]  [ Cynoglossum grande ]  and then started looking around. I quickly found that I could see it in Coe Park, near Morgan Hill.

• When I looked up the Wikipedia entry, foundathat it likes conditions. I then checked my work byI doing search for shady [ Cynoglossum grande shady ]  ]  Sure enough, other places say the sa same me thing. It checks out!  

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  Keep looki looking! ng! Think of synonym s!

• Som Someti etimes mes you nee need d to k keep eep ttryi rying, ng, tthin hinkin king g yo your ur p prob roblem lem tthrou hrough gh in different ways. Usually, if you think about how someone else would describe the thing you’re looking for, that will suggest search terms for you.

• Question:  A friend told me that there is an abandoned city in the waters of San Franci Francisco sco B Bay. ay. Is that true? If it IS true, wh what at was the name of the supposed city?

 

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Answer: ynonyms

• Ye Yes, s, it’s t’s ttru rue… e… th ther ere e IIS Sa an n abandoned city near what is now Fremont. It was called Drawbridge.. Drawbridge • The trick here is to think about other ways of describing an  “abandoned city”—don’t just assume the best way to describethat’s it. Try this search: [ ghost town san francisco bay ] 

 

The former town of Drawbridge

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  pecifiers: term to get a certain kind of result

• Som Some e sea search rch ter terms ms su sugge ggest st re result sultss tha thatt ar are e of a spe specif cific ic ttype ype..  –  –  –  –  –

Wikipedia – will usually bring wikipedia articles to the front Image Video – when looking for videos videos Review – to find reviews reviews of products, books, movies, etc. Forum – a forum is an online discussion between people on a given topic • Example: [ Chinese wedding forum ]  ] 

 –  –  –  –  –  

Overview – for an on-topic overview overview Tutorial – when looking for a tutorial on topic Workbook Help Documentation – to look for documentation on a topic

 – FAQ – frequently asked questions list (often useful for topic summaries)  – DIY – “do it yourself” useful when looking for instructions

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Art of Keyword Keyw ord um umm m ary

1. Cho Choose ose w word ordss th that at wi willll b be e on the pag page(s) e(s) you see seek k 2. Start as si simply mply as pos possible sible (don’t start with 5 word wordss in your query) 3. If yo you u know a very specif specific ic ter term, m, use it (bu (butt be su sure re it’ it’ss righ right!) t!) 4. Lea Learn rn fr from om wh what at y you ou ssee ee on the pag pages es y you ou v visi isitt 5. Don’t get stuck on a partic particular ular term or phrase phrase.. If you’re not making progress, re-think the terms you’re using

 

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 Consider ider using other content types ► Cons

•  Video:  Video: Youtube – –be be sure to llook ook for [ TED talks ]] –  – great speakers e.g., Ola Rosling or Jane Goodall

 

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For example. exam ple... when are iima mages ges a good resource?

• “What’s a fore topmast studding sail ?”  ?” 

 

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sail diagram ]  [ ship hip diagr diagram am:: Use image search

 

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Using Maps

• Usi Using ng Goo Google gle Map Mapss iiss a gre great at way to fin find dw wher here e ssomet omethin hing g iis. s. But suppose you want to find out how far APART two things are.

Question: Question: (a) Can you fi figure gure out how far the De Young museum is from the San Francisco train station? (b) Suppose you want to hi hike ke from the Yosemite Visitor’s Visitor’s Center up to Glacier Point. How would you you figure out how ffar ar a hi hike ke that is?

 

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Answer

• Use m maps aps wit with h dr drivi iving ng di direc rectio tions ns tto o get the rou rough gh di distan stance ce ffrom rom point to point.

• For Yosemite, you have to look for a map at the Yosemite Park website. •  Then… use the maps “Distance measurement tool” (under My Maps)

 

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Using other resources

Someone told me that in the mid-1500’s, people often would carry around a special kind of notebook. They would use the notebook to write down quotations that they heard, or copy passages from books they’d read. The notebook was an important part of their education, and it had a particular name.

Question:   What was this kind of notebook call Question: called? ed?

 

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Answer

• Thi Thiss is a rreal eally ly hard que questi stion. on. The best way to a answe nswerr iitt iiss tto o ffirst irst look for a reverse dictionary. dictionary ]  ] [ reverse dictionary • Then, go to the reverse dictionary (such as http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml ) http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml ) … in theit words notebook quotations ] – then look thru theand list type of words shows [you. •  Answer:  Answer:   “commonplace book”

 

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How to rem remove ove bogus resul results ts ffrom rom you yourr searches

• Som Someti etimes mes you wan wantt to llook ook up so somet methin hing g tha that’s t’s p pret retty ty ccomm ommon, on, sso o there are LOTS of web pages out there. It’s even worse when the word is really common. So how do you eliminate things you don’t want?

• Question: Can you find a great recipe for salsa to make for dinner tonight? IN PARTICULAR… your nephew is allergic to tomatoes. Can you find a salsa recipe without tomatoes in it?

 

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  alsa - answe answerr

• The tri trick ck h here ere is tto o rem remove ove all tho those se “s “sals alsa a as d danc ancing ing”” mea meanin nings. gs. The quick way to do that in a web search is with the MINUS sign.

[ salsa –dancing ]]   -- this will remove all the dancing references [ salsa –dancing -tomatoes ]

 

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You found a site site you like like and want ttoo search JU T iit… t…

• I re reall ally y liliked ked tthe he re recip cipes es on E Epic picuri urious. ous.com com – use S SITE ITE:: to re restr strict ict search to just the site(s) you like

[ site:epicurious.com salsa ]

•  Also use site: to limit searches to just universities (in the US): [ site:.edu history american romanticsm literature ]

 

 

Always check your you r work… G et multipl multiplee answe answers rs

• Can you figure out the diameter of the earth?

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Checking your work… work…

• Just do the obvious: [ diameter of the earth ]]   But CHECK YOUR ANSWER  by looking at different sites. Depending on which one you choose, you’ll get somewhat different answers! Site Site Site Site

#1: #2: #3: #4:

7,926.41 miles 12,756 km 12,756.3 km 7,900 miles

Why the differences? - different measuring techniques - different circles around (polar vs. equatorial) - different resolutions of measurement (cm vs. mile scales)

 

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Calculator

•

Ca Can n yo you u fi figur gure e ou outt ho how w to us use e th the e ca calc lcul ulat ator or o on nG Goo oogl gle? e?  – Just type the expression into the search s earch box

1. 4 + 5 + 19 2. 450 502 23 / 34 + 5 / 29 3. Sin(0.5) ^ 2

 

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Conversions

• General pattern:

number   units1  units1  in in   units2  

 

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Problem: How fast does the W orld’s orld’s Fastest Man run in in MPH? MPH ?

•

Steps: 1. What’s What’s the cur curre rent nt worl world d reco record? rd? 2. Ma Make ke tthe he con conve vers rsio ions ns 3. Do th the e cal calcu cula lati tion onss

1. 2. 3. 4.

Use web search (news) to find out world record Note that the record is in meters (100 meters) Convert distance from met meters ers to miles Convert time from seconds to hours

 

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Finding tools on the the web w eb

•   General point:   When you want to do something complex, LOOK for a tool to do it before building your own.

• Find a way to graph the equations: y = x2 + sin(x)   y = x2 * sin(x)  

 

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Answe Ans wer: r: Look for a tool

• Answer: use [ graphing calculator ]] –  – then choose one

From coolmath.com

 

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► Credibility •

We al alll w wan antt tto o ttea eacch iit… t… bu butt h how ow??

•

Credibility = trustworthiness + expertise  – Oh yeah… it’s also socially contextualized: What’s credible credible to you might not be credible to another social group.

•  A large part of learning how to judge as credible  is…  is…  – What does your social group recognize as credible?  A large part of this is name recognition. recognition. • •

(NYTimes v. Fox v. CNN…) (Folger Shakespeare Library v. Renaissance Pleasure Faire v. …)

 

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Credibility / Assessment • Ho How w ccan an yo you u ttel elll iiff ssom omet ethi hing ng is cr cred edib ible le??

1. Check links pointing TO the page: link: URL> ]  ]   e.g., [ link:www.ufos-alien.uk ]]   use: [ link:<

2. Check th the e page and site on Al Alexa.com exa.com use: www.alexa.com – look on the “Site overview” and “Traffic” 

3. Check llinks inks pointing OUT from the page:

 

use: www.linkvendor.com/seo-tools/outbound-links.html

 

Exam ple: Did NA A fake the m oon landi landing? ng?

• [ lunar lan andi din ng hoa oax x] • Click on first result: result:   www.ufos-aliens.co.uk/cosmicapollo.html

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Heurist He uristics ics to ccheck heck credibil credibilitityy

• Look at the contact info for website  – usually on the home page, not a deep linked page

• Look at ads that run on the site t he content / operator?  – what do they tell you about the

• Use the link operator: [ link:www.ufoslink:www.ufos-aliens.co.uk/co aliens.co.uk/cosmicapollo smicapollo.html .html ]  •  to see what other web pages link to this page

[ link:/www.ufoslink:/www.ufos-aliens.co.uk/ aliens.co.uk/ ]  ]  •  to see what other web sites link to this page

 

 

Usee Alexa to get overall sense of site Us

www.alexa.com

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Use other o ther tools LinkVendor.com - see: outbound links - see: keywords

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Find out who owns the site… site…

• http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp   • www.internic.net/ www.internic.net/   -- look under “Whois Search Results”

Report for:  for:  www.globalwarminghoax.com

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se arch techniques techniques ► Advanced search •  All search engines have advanced search capabilities. capoften… abilities. Here are some of the advanced things I use site:stanford.edu stanford.edu   -- “site restrict” restrict” limits result resultss to JUST that ssite ite site:   (Try: Try:   [ winograd ] vs. ] vs. [ winograd site:stanford.edu ] or ]  or

[ moon image ] vs. [ moon image site:nasa.gov ] ) ]  )

filetype:pdf  – filetype:pdf   – “filetype restrict” limits hits to just files of that type (can be   pdf, doc, ppt, jpg, gif, xls, etc.   (Try: [ sensemaking filetype:PDF ] ) ]  )

intitle:”American Heritage”  – intitle:”American  – requires that this string be in the TITLE of    of the page that’s found (Try: [ museum ] vs. ] vs. [ museum intitle:”American Heritage” ]  ]  or [ museum American technology ] vs. ] vs. [ museum intitle:”American Technology” ] ) ]  ) 

 

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Advancedd search page Advance

•  Access to all of the advanced features w/o having to remember them all! • The link to advanced is on everysearch search page

 

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►  ummary 1. Choo Choose se k key eywo word rdss care carefu full lly y • • • •

Think of the target you seek / how would it be written there? Start broad, scan quickly, focus in Use precise terms when you know them Use type specifier terms e.g., wikipedia, image, video, review, forum, overview, tutorial, help, documentation…

2. Consid Consider er other other cont content ent ttype ypess (image (images, s, video videos, s, maps) maps) 3. Rememb Remember er othe otherr infor informat mation ion resour resources ces exist exist •

e.g., reverse dictionaries, synonym finder, forums, domain-specific sites

4. Techniques: • • • • •

Minus to remove terms from searches Check your result by looking for same answer elsewhere Calculator Conversions Site:

5. Credibility

 

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Have a resear research ch stance…

• Key takeaways:  takeaways:   – Make research be a part of everything you do  – Teach this attitude to your students  – Plan on learning new skills • Nothing stays constant on the web • Search engines continually improving • New search tools / new

 

 

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Custom

earch Engines http://www.google.com/cse/  

•  A CSE provides a tailored tailored (usually more selective and focused) search experience for the topic of your choice

•

Sample uses:  –  –

Custom search for your web site Group together multiple web sites on a common theme

 

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Finding Findi ng a custom search eengine ngine (C E)

• http://www.google.com/coop/cse/examples/GooglePicks  – Note that the searches can sometimes be a little funky…

 

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Alerts http://www.google.com/alerts

• Scan news, groups, web, videos, comprehensive… and g generate enerate emails automatically techniques  – Use in conjunction with advanced search techniques

 

 

Mashupss Mashup  http://schoolperformancemaps.com/  http://schoolperformancemaps.com/ 

•

Combines data from multiple sources into single view

•

To find mashups: [ mashup search ]]  

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Video

• Video.google.com •  Youtube.com • …you can find lots more

• Notes:  – Lots of junk on the public video sites… be careful of what you see  – Low quality  –  Also lots of faked video. You can’t believe everything you see either.

 

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Images

• Images es..goo oog gle.com • But remember than many sites have their OWN image collections. Especially true of newspapers, .gov, NASA, universities, libraries, etc. •

Example:  –  –

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/index.html Site:usgs.gov – in image search search

 

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Books

• Books.google.com  – scanned page images [ scuba ]  ] 

•  Amazon.com – “search inside this book” feature  – Look for Backyard Ballistics    then [ potato gun ]

 

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Patents

• Googl gle e.com om//pat ate ents • Usually want to use advanced search here

 

 

  cholar

• Fo Forr sc scho hollar arly ly sear search ches es… …

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  earching libraries libraries

• Ve Very ry u use sefu full to d do o on onliline ne ssea earc rche hess of llib ibra rari ries es… …  – Especially when you’re looking on obscure topics  – Looking for an out-of-print author (not in Amazon)  – When you need to find a hardcopy to read  – Need access to local resources resources (e.g., Palo Alto Historical Association)

 

Palo Alto, 1960

 

Palo Alt A ltoo •

http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/library/  http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/library/   – Search the catalog (another “deep web”  area!  – (Click on the “search” icon, right hand  side. Red and blue. Looks a little like a train…)

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Advancedd earch Tips & Tri Advance Tricks cks

• When to do an image search?  – When looking for a picture… obviously  – But consider it when you’re stuck  ]  -- but try doing an IMAGE search for resume!  – Try: [ resume ] 

• Oneboxes: ] – note: contrast this with [ define moa moa ]  – [ define:moa ] –  –  –  –  –  –

[ movies palo alto ]  ]  [ pizza near mountain view ] [ weather mountain view ] phone number and map: [ kepler’s menlo park ]  ] 

 – Flight numbers (to track a flight): [ AA102 ]  ]