Google search secrets

CHICAGO — Google can be an incredibly powerful tool for research, but the top-of-the-page results are seldom the most beneficial to library users and students, and many of the search engine’s most useful features are hidden behind its famously simple interface. In “Google Search Secrets,” published by ALA Neal-Schuman, Christa Burns and Michael P. Sauers reveal tricks and tips for effective Google searches, showing how to get the most out of the service, with:

• an overview of all the tool’s search services, including Images, Maps, News, Blogs, Discussions, Scholar, Patents and Books;
• ready-to-use instructions on how to go beyond the simple search box and top results to get library users the answers they need, fast;
• straightforward guidance on using filters to refine search results, with examples of common searches like images with Creative Commons licenses, news searches set for a date range or into an archive and videos with closed captioning;
• an explanation of the bibliography manager feature of Google Scholar, which allows students and researchers to build bibliographies with ease;
• tips for configuring Safe Search on workstations in children’s departments and schools;
• copious screenshots that walk readers through each topic step by step.

Burns is the special projects librarian, technology and access services, at the Nebraska Library Commission. She provides organization, training and consultation for special projects, such as the Gates Foundation grants for libraries, E-rate, Learning 2.0 and group purchases of library products and services. She also coordinates, produces, and hosts the Commission’s weekly webinar series, NCompass Live. She previously spent more than eight years at Pace University in Westchester County, N.Y., starting as a reference librarian and working her way up to become head of research and information services.

Sauers is currently the technology innovation librarian for the Nebraska Library Commission in Lincoln, Neb., and has been training librarians in technology for almost 20 years. He has been a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library Friends group, a reference librarian, serials cataloger, technology consultant and bookseller. He earned his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany’s School of Information Science and Policy. He blogs at The Travelin' Librarian, and runs websites for authors and historical societies. He has authored or co-authored many books, including “Semantic Web Technologies and Social Searching for Librarians (THE TECH SET® #20).”

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