Topic outline

 
Information Literacy Logo

Using Google Effectively

This module is part of the Information Literacy package of courses created by the JISC Regional Support Centre of the Northwest. This module discusses how to use all the Google services. At the end of the module you will be aware of all Google services and their uses towards your studies. Enjoy the module!
 
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Introduction to Google Services and Tools

As you may well be aware, over the last few years the search engine Google has expanded it's portfolio of services that it offers to include a number of services relevant to education. These services include:
Google Earth, Google Local, Google SMS, Google Scholar, Google Moon and Google Base. There is also a website translator and a desktop search.

Most of the Google services and tools can be found at: http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/options/

The rest of this module takes you through some of the services and how they could be used.
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Google Earth Logo

Download required - please check first whether you need to obtain permission

Google Earth allows users to search the planet, via 3-d maps and satellite images.

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Google Local UK

Google Local - information about local businesses, restaurants, hotels and driving directions

Access Google Local UK
http://www.google.co.uk/lochp?hl=en

Tour Google Local
http://www.google.com/help/maps/tour/

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Picasa

Download required - please check first whether you need to obtain permission

Picasa - picture management service where users can also edit, crop and mail their stored photos to friends. Picasa automatically searches your hard drive for all images and sorts them into visual albums.

The picture on the right hows how you can manipulate colours to create a sharper image.
Editing in Picassa

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Google Scholar Logo

Google Scholar covers peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts, and other scholarly literature from all broad areas of research. You'll find works from a wide variety of academic publishers and professional societies, as well as scholarly articles available across the web. Google Scholar may also include multiple versions of an article, possibly preliminary, which you may be able to access.

Access Google Scholar at:
http://scholar.google.com/

Note, some results are shown as [citation] or [book] and are not 'clickable'. In these cases the full text for the result is not available. Check your local library to see whether they have the material available.

Also, your results may be US bias due to the large amount of US content in the service.

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Google Book Search

Google Book Search allows you to view the entirety of public domain books or, for books under copyright, just a few pages or in some cases, only the title's bibliographic data and brief snippets. The results also show:

  • Book Reviews
  • Related Information
  • More about the publisher

Access Google Book Search at:
http://books.google.com

Quick Example:
Try searching for "Alice in Wonderland"

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Google Blog Search

Google Blog Search allows you to search for Blogs related to your search term. For more information about Blogs, click on the link below.

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Google Moon

In celebration of the first manned landing on the Moon (20th July
1969). Google have created Google Moon.

From clicking on parts of the moon you can find out more about all the moon landings.
You can also zoom in to see the moon in more detail.

See if you can see what the moon is make of!

Access Google Moon at: http://moon.google.com/

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Google Video

Google video is a collection of short UK and US Video clips from television media. Each clip is shown in large screen with details of the length and date of the video shown alongside. When you find a video you want to keep, just email yourself (or your friends!) the link.

Access Google Video
http://video.google.com

Examples to search for:
Smart Crash
Top Gear
Harry Potter interview


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Interesting Google Facts

On Wednesday 17th May 2006, The Independent newspaper published which nations conduct the most searches for particular items which was obtained from Google Trends.

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What Next?

Take a look at your Study Plan created in the Introduction to Information Literacy Module.
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