Posts Tagged ‘search’

Those of you who attended our session at the last SIM Conference know we’re big fans of the Common Craft Show and the clever way Lee LeFever simplifies concepts for the masses. In the latest episode, Lee tackles a problem we’ve all had: How do you narrow search results to find exactly what you need? I won’t spoil the surprise–watch the video to learn. Even if you know these tips, watch the video anyway–it’s not too long and might give you some ideas about how to explain a concept in a different way.

Thanks to Gail Tiemann for pointing out that this new episode is available!

Do your attempts to find a needle in a haystack on Google leave you with information overload? Often, due to how Google weights certain pages’ content, you may not find what you’re really looking for until the second or third page. You can narrow these search results with a little know-how of a concept called Boolean searching.

Boolean search is based on rules of logic defined by George Boole, a 19th-century mathematician whose name you may recall from Algebra class. Boolean logic is essentially what you use when diagraming a concept with a Venn diagram–it helps you refine results based on what you know about a topic.

With a little practice it’s fairly easy to get good at using Boolean logic to find exactly what you need (or, as can be the case, finding that exactly what you need doesn’t exist online). A new tool called Boolify makes this even easier.

Boolify is a graphical tool for building boolean searches. As you build your search by specifying what it should and should not include, you get real-time Google search results. Watch as your results narrow to (hopefully) yield the exact information you need. Boolify also shows you the proper Google syntax for the search, so you can begin using these methods in your regularly-scheduled searching.

Someday, I think it would be compelling to develop Learning Strategy-style strategies for information literacy. In the meantime, give Boolify a try to help your students (and yourself) become a little more Google-savvy.