4. Advanced Searching
Google users can conduct advanced searches in two ways:
1. By using the search engine's dedicated Advanced Search page
2. By integrating Advanced Search Operators into their search.
Advanced Search Page
Google's Advanced Search screen (shown below) allows researchers an easy way to refine a query by filling in special fields or using a series of pull-down menus. Users can find results containing all of their search terms, an exact phase, at lease one of their search words, or without specified words, simply by filling in the appropriate text boxes.
In addition, users can use the Advanced Search page to limit their search by Language, File Format (Ex. .pdf, .ps, .doc, .xls, .ppt, .rtf), Date (Ex. only return web pages updated in the last 3 months, 6 months or year), Occurences (Ex. only return results where the search terms occur in the title, text, URL, etc.), Domain (Ex. only return results from a particular site or domain that you select), Similar (Ex. find pages similar to the page you specify), or Links (Ex. find pages that link to the page you specify).
Google also allows users to automatically filter explicit sexual content from their results list by using SafeSearch Filtering.
Alternate Query Types
Some special queries NOT readily available through the Advanced Search Page are listed below. I have added relevant examples to the descriptions taken from this Google help page.
cache:
The query [cache:] will show the version of the web page that Google has in its cache.
E.g.
For instance, the search above will show Google's cache of Harvard's main homepage. Note there can be no space between the "cache:" and the web page url. If you include other words in the query, Google will highlight those words within the cached document. For instance, [cache:www.harvard.edu college] will show the cached content with the word "college" highlighted. This functionality is also accessible by clicking on the "Cached" link on Google's main results page.
info:
The query [info:] will present some information that Google has about that web page. For instance, [info:www.harvard.edu] will show information about the Harvard homepage. Note there can be no space between the "info:" and the web page url. This functionality is also accessible by typing the web page url directly into a Google search box.
E.g.
define:
The query [define:] will provide a definition of the words you enter after it, gathered from various online sources. The definition will be for the entire phrase entered (i.e., it will include all the words in the exact order you typed them).
E.g.
intitle:
If you include [intitle:] in your query, Google will restrict the results to documents containing that word in the title. For instance, [intitle:harvard biology] will return documents that mention the word "harvard" in their title, and mention the word "biology" anywhere in the document (title or no). Note there can be no space between the "intitle:" and the following word.
E.g.
Putting [intitle:] in front of every word in your query is equivalent to putting [allintitle:] at the front of your query:
E.g.
is the same as
E.g.
inurl:
If you include [inurl:] in your query, Google will restrict the results to documents containing that word in the url. For instance, [inurl:harvard biology] will return documents that mention the word "harvard" in the url, and mention the word "biology" anywhere in the document (url or no). Note there can be no space between the "inurl:" and the following word.
E.g.
Putting [inurl:] in front of every word in your query is equivalent to putting [allinurl:] at the front of your query:
E.g.
is the same as
E.g.
