1. Google started in 1997 (after 2 years’ experimenting), but took off around 2000. It was not the first search engine. Created by Sergey Brin & Larry Page at Stanford Univ., both now multi-billionaires. Page Rank. (rates relevance of page by number and quality of pages that link to it) ( Pigeon Rank ?) For competitors & critical analyses see Search Engine Watch
See Also: Ask, Clusty, Yahoo, Grokker, Amazon, Wikipedia, Dogpile,
MSN LiveSearch
2. Invisible vs. Visible web. Search Engines vs. Databases or here. Searching for information vs. for facts, for answers, for authority, for text, for data, record. Culture of info breeds a culture of answers. Culture of media breeds sense of “being in touch”. Connectivity. Culture of internet breeds sense of personal empowerment/authority. Culture of privacy. The hypocrisy of identity.
3. a. Ten-word limit
b. Word Order may make a difference ("obama election mccain") - shows up in results displayed rather than in "findings"; 3-word limit usually brings the most useful results)
c. not cAse seNsitIve; spelling counts, but----
d. ignore punctuation & short connective words (don’t waste words)
e. limits: phrases by exact words, quotes, date, file, etc.
(ex. “cash register,” five easy pieces, daddy long legs, summer and smoke,etc);
(Advanced Search options) ; searching by language
4. Use Google to search for whole quoted phrases or titles (up to 10 words) (ex."It is a far far better thing I do....") ("provided efficient on-column digestion of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) during RNA purification...." - Pavlov )
("NAHUA IN ANCIENT MESOAMERICA: Evidence from Maya inscriptions")
5. Using search operators:
a. site:edu (gov, org, mil) or site:edu/library/history
b. filetype:ppt (jpg,doc,bmp,pdf,xls), tutorials (critical thinking tutorial 2002..2007 filetype:ppt)
c. intitle: (no space)
d. inurl: "
e. define: "
f. numrange (Oscars 1966..1971) cost, weight, percent, etc. (separate by two periods; covers, but not limited to, range) date range: +1968 - 1972
g. as calculator (% of, -*- (multiply), 3th root of, -^- (power of), log, ! (factorial ) , / (divide)
h. search for numbers, percents, “answers without questions” (ex: 23 dolls, 5 golden globes, population 3644). "Reverse fact-finding"
6. Google Images (concrete & abstract)
7. Google Scholar (library holdings/search; open source) Fulltext @ Stony Brook
8. Google Books (content: all, limited, full; Libraries via Worldcat, with STARS)
9. Google Translation (language tools)
10. Google Maps (greatest app;mashups) - Google Maps Mania - Directions - Street View
11. Google Earth (Download) Google Earth Blog
12. Google Video: search YouTube by keyword
ex. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs&eurl
13. Google Blog Search / Google Groups (blogs may contain current, otherwise-unsearchable information)
14. Getting a Google Account https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount (personal home page/search history, GMail )
15. Google Documents (web-based word processor)
16. Google Sites (old Page Creator) (make your own web pages)
17. Custom Co-Op http://www.google.com/coop/ http://google.com/coop/cse/
ex. http://google.com/coop/cse?cx=000516496489466918034%3Asjwmwhw9_fu
18. Google API (codes) (application program interface)
19 Google Trends (statistics/analyses of current and past worldwide keyword searches;comparisons)
20. Google Sets http://labs.google.com/sets (experiment with tags & categories)
21. GoogleGuide http://www.googleguide.com/ and GoogleBlog http://googleblog.blogspot.com/
22. Google Analytics (tracks the use of web pages you publish)
23. Google Experimental and Google Labs
24. Google file finder shortcut (MP3, wav, jpg): Here Add "(name of title or atist)" at the end of the URL
25. John Battelle's SearchBlog; books: The Search; Google: the Missing Manual