I get around web search pretty well. Granted, I don’t often have major people searching needs; I still know my way around the block when it comes to search and many of the advanced operators.
Still, there are many people out there that simply type in their questions into Google’s search bar and click go. I know this because I see search keywords that bring people to the site. While boolean searching seem to be ubiquitous when I chat with sourcers, I know some people who could still use a brush up on those skills if they don’t use web search that frequently.
If you’re a boolean mastermind (or even just a moderate user of Google), you won’t be glean much from this feature from OnlinePhD.org:
Created by OnlinePhD.org
What interests me more is how nice and visual this demonstration of some advanced Google operators presents itself. And instead of an infographic (which I feel are getting overused and are often gleaned over), this feels more like a step by step tutorial on how to unlock some of the magic of Google for beginner searchers (or just those infrequent searchers who need a refresher).
For some of you looking for some more advanced boolean strings, you should really check out the 25 boolean strings that Irina Shamaeva shared on her blog last week (including one of my favorite little tricks, the verbatim tool). But as she says in her post, “These strings do not guarantee to do anything remarkable, especially if you replace keywords or if anything in Google’s Boolean syntax changes – starting tomorrow.”
And as anyone who has interacted with Google’s search engine knows, tomorrow can literally be true.
