Making the Most of Google!

Class Outline:

Searching: Take advantage of the new basic search features. (Page 1-2)

News Archive: Historical newspapers, magazines & facts. (Page 2)

Newspapers: Flip through articles in a new way. (Page 3)

Google Scholar: Dig into the deeper Web. (Page 3-4)

Google Docs & Spreadsheets (& Forms!): Use online tools to create, backup, and gather
information. (Pages 5-6)

Google Books: Search, read, and download out of copyright titles. (Pages 6-7)

Picasa: Upload, share, and backup your personal photos; search for photos with Creative
Commons licensing. (Page 7))

Even more! (Page 8-9)

Master the basic search screen

Search Results by Reading Level

It is possible to view search results by reading level. This will allow you to isolate results that are more
appropriate for your patron.

News Archive
Scenario: A student needs to find out what happened on a certain date.
http://news.google.com

How to use the news archive:

Open the advanced search options.
Search the archive.
Once the results load, click on custom range for
an exact date.

List of Google Newspapers:

Google has discontinued scanning and digitizing newspapers, but you can still view the existing papers.
http://news.google.com/newspapers

Google Scholar
Find citations, abstracts, and some full text journal articles.
http://scholar.google.com/

Saving your results in Google Scholar

Google Docs & Spreadsheet Uses:

Backup important files

Transport data from one location to another
Collaborate with others
Gather data to import into a spreadsheet
Try a demo! http://www.google.com/campaigns/gonegoogle/demos.html

Finding Google Docs & Spreadsheets

http://docs.google.com
The first time you log into the site, youll be asked to provide some quick information.

Site Admin

There is a personal administrative side to Google Docs & Spreadsheets. Since youve just started
your account, it is likely that the page will look pretty bare.
Notice that on the left side of the page is where you narrow down the documents you wish to
view.
The center area of the screen will display the file names of the
documents.

Starting a new document

To start a new document, click on Create.

Click the upload file button and select a file or folder to upload.
A new window or tab will open to a blank, unnamed document.

Name and save a document

Click on the untitled document name and give it a file name.

Save your changes.

Writing and editing the document

Writing and editing the document is similar to using a desktop-based text editor. The only thing to
remember is to use the editing tools and menu provided in the Webpage. Take a minute to view the
different editing tools.

Sharing
You can share your document with others a few different ways:
You can publish your document as a Webpage others can view, but not edit.
You can email the document to others.
But best yet, you can invite another Google Docs user to edit your document at the same time
you are editing it!
Lets try that out
Click on the Share button.
Add the names of other people to the Invite people box.

Find out the Gmail or email address of the person sitting next to you. (Make sure it is the same
email address they used to create their Google account.)
Enter their email address and invite them as a collaborator to your document.
Ask them to let you collaborate on their document.

Navigate back to your original Google Docs page. This will probably be located on another open window
or tab.

Look for your classmates document under Shared with me

Click on the file name to open their document.
Watch as the changes your classmate makes appear on your screen!

Using Google Spreadsheet as a collection form

Google can be used as a way of collecting short answers (think: survey or contact
information) from many people very quickly and very easily!

Visit your original Google Docs admin page and click Create >> Form.
Give your form a name and save it.
Start adding questions to the form.
Continue adding questions until your form is complete.
You can arrange the order of the questions by dropping and dragging the
questions around the page.

Or copy the link of the live form at the bottom of the page

A response sheet is created for you when you check responses.

Find the spreadsheet containing the responses at: docs.google.com

Google Books
http://books.google.com
Google Books has scanned and stored the contents of millions of titles that are out of copyright and free
to download to your computer.

To do a simple search, simply type in the name of a book in Researching a topic? box.
Find a book youd like to read. Click on the title to load the book. Click on the Download link
and choose EPUB.

Save the file or open it directly with Adobe Digital Editions.

Use Google Books to help you find what you need in a book

Search for the desired book in Google Books.

Open the book.
Search within the book.
Note: If the book is in copyright, you may only get a snippet
of the book, but at least youll know which page the
information can be found on.

Upload your own photos into Googles Picasa

Visit: http://picasaweb.google.com
Click the Upload Photos button.

Select or create a new album.

Browse your computer for a photo to upload.
Upload the photo.

Edit your photo with Picnik

While viewing an individual photo that you have uploaded, click on the small Edit button.
You will be able to crop, resize, add text, recolor, etc.
Once youve finished editing, click Save to Album.

Search for photos under Creative Commons licensing

Visit: http://www.google.com/advanced_image_search and search for a subject.

When viewing the search results, click on Show Options.

When viewing a photo on the website, be sure to double-check all copyright statements.
Please read more about the CC licenses: http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/

Reverse Image search tip

Instantly do a reverse image search by right-clicking on an image while holding the s key.
(Chrome browser only)
Dragging an image to the search box also produces results in Firefox.

FYI: Stuff thats good to know

Magazines
Google Books also offers a variety of scanned magazines! Heres a list of the titles and years:
http://tech.nhlibrary.org/2009/03/google-books-adds-magazines/
Or you can browse through the available titles by clicking on Browse books and magazines from the
Google Books homepage.

Once you find a magazine you want to use for research, you can search within all of the issues for any
particular word or phrase. This will bring you to a search result page where all of the results are taken
from that particular magazine!

Advanced Tip: This is a great way to find articles and ads from a particular time period for class projects.
Note that you will need to use screenshot/print-screen/snipping tool software to get the image.
Blog Search
Looking for breaking news? Sometimes the Google Blog Search is the best way to get new information
from a fresh perspective.
http://blogsearch.google.com
or do a Google search and narrow the results by More >> Blog.
Dictionary & Translation
In addition to offering a good dictionary, Google also offers a quick way to translate words to or from
English. Google Translate will give a rough translation of a paragraph of text.
http://google.com/dictionary
http://translate.google.com

Patents
On occasion you might get asked where to find patents. Give Google Patents a try! If you need to search
by patent number or U.S. classification, be sure to look at the advanced search features.
http://google.com/patents
Google Calendar
Looking for a calendar that you can access
anywhere you have Internet access, works
on smart phones, and can be kept private or
shared with others? Look no further!
http://calendar.google.com

Google Finance
Need a ticker symbol?
http://google.com/finance
Find out any actors bacon number
Marilyn Monroe bacon number (Come on. Just try it.)
Set a timer
Set timer for
Find books by an author

Turn your browser into a notepad

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Google Maps
Never get lost again!
http://maps.google.com
In Google Maps you can:

Get directions
View a neighborhood
Create your own map to share with others
Go into Street View

New acquisitions:
What does a place look like? Check out photos on a map:
http://www.panoramio.com/
Google Art Project:
http://www.googleartproject.com/
Explore even more Google products!
http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/
Find a definition
Define word
Genealogy research
There is a wealth of freely available genealogy resources available in the form of personal websites and
public messages books (even Ancestry.coms message boards) that can be searched with a precise
Google search of the name of an individual and with other search terms like family tree, genealogy, etc.
Adding the name of a spouse is also helpful in narrowing down search results.
Security
Consider pausing your Web history:

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If you've never "paused" the collection of your web browsing and searching, this might be a good time
to do so. See the following link for instructions on how to pause and remove your web history from your
Google account. Time needed: Just a minute to log into your Google account and click a few buttons.
http://support.google.com/accounts/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=14148&parent=28726&ctx=topic

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