Google!

Most people think that when searching on Google, you can rely on the first page. But most people aren't aware that this isn't the best way to find your information. For searching a small topic, this might be okay, but when it comes to researching, the first page isn't always the way to go.

In class, we learned a few search tools that could help us find a website more quick and accurate depending on the information we want to know. I learned that adding a simple "AND" or "OR" could really narrow the research down. I also learned that if you minus something, it could help. (Ex: -videos -pictures)

 The topic we were told to research was "How do democratic and republican positions on the 'fiscal cliff' differ?" The first thing I did was to type up the question on google to see what would come up. After, I just started to mess around with the drop-down columns to see what I could do. After I got the hang of it, I started to minus things that I found irrelevant, such as videos, pictures, and blog entries. I also emphasized fiscal cliff by putting quotations around it, which I also found helpful. I then clicked on "Past 24 hours" and "Past year" just to see the difference. I learned that the smallest change could really effect the results!

Learning about these search tools and and all the different things we can do to narrow down our research really helped! It also WOW'd me on how cool it is. I find it much more easier, as well as entertaining! Learning about Google's search engine is very helpful and probably the best thing I've ever learned in school!!