Online Research Tips
Below are some strategies for building a better Google search:
- Develop more effective keywords
- Start with broad searches and then narrow either by using new keywords or by using the tips below
- Think about how the words will be phrased on the website or what words best describe what you're looking for
- Don't ask Google questions
- Add descriptive words to your search to bring back more of what you need, such as statistics, data, study, report
- Use Google Advanced Search
- This type of search will help you build a more sophisticated search to bring back more of what you want and less of what you don't want.
- Search for specific domains
- This type of search will only search one type of domain, such as .edu, .org, etc.
- example search: student veterans site:.edu
- Search a specific website
- This type of search will only search one website.
- example search: student veterans site:nytimes.com
- Search for a specific file type
- This type of search will only search for files such as pdf, ppt, doc etc.
- Example search: student veterans filetype:ppt
- Search within a date range
- Example search: student veterans 2012..2019
- Search the title of the article or webpage
- Example search: intitle:student veterans
- Combine any of the advanced search tips
- Example search: student veterans site:.org intitle:loans
- Search Google Scholar
- Google Scholar allows you to search for primarily scholarly or academic articles. It pulls from various sources, including open access (freely available) online journals, journal publishers, and institutional repositories (where faculty, staff, and students can place their academic work online). However, some content is behind a paywall.
- While you're a student at LSU, you can search the Libraries to see if we have the full-text (if we don't have it, we can get it for you - no cost).
