Google, one of the Web's most-used (and useful) search engines, has a wide range of capabilities...and it's not just for searching. You can get definitions, use a calculator, track airline flight information, translate a phrase in a foreign language, and much more.
Features
Here are some of Google's useful, and not so well known, features:
- Define a term: To get the definition of a word (or words), type "define", a space, and then the word(s) you want defined, e.g., define rara avis. For a list of definitions for a word(s), just type something like define:celerity, with no space between define: and the word(s).
- Use a calculator: To add, multiply, or divide some numbers; convert from centimeters to inches, or solve another mathematical problem, just type the calculation you'd like to be solved. Nancy Blachman's Google Guide includes more detailed (but succinct) information about using the calculator, including advanced math functions and the physical constants known to Google's <a href="http://www.googleguide.com/calculator.html"> "calculator function"</a>.
- Track flight information or check on delays: To find out when a flight is arriving, type the flight number, e.g., united 355. To check on delays and weather conditions at a specific airport, type the airport's three-letter code followed by "airport", e.g., sfo airport.
- Translate a web page: If your search includes non-English results there will be a link to a version of that page translated into English.
- Find the location of local businesses and services: To find the location of a local business or service, click on Local on the Google home page. In the resulting window, type what you're looking for in the What space (e.g., Starbucks) and it's locale (e.g., Palo Alto) in the Where space. A map with exact locations is included with the results.
Tips
- To get more than 10 results per page in your search result, click on Preferences on the Google home page (or on a Google results page) to reset results per page in the Number of Results section.
- Clicking on the I'm Feeling Lucky button on the Google home page, gives you the first search result for your query. For example, typing Harvard and clicking on the I'm FeelingLucky button gives you Harvard University's home page.
- Adding "acronym" to your search lets you search for a term like ISBN, e.g., ISBN acronym.
- Use two periods to search within a range of numbers. For example, typing laptop computer $400..$1200 returns results for laptop computers in that price range.
Tools
- If you are using Microsoft Windows with Internet Explorer 5.0+, you can add the Google Toolbar to your browser for more easier searching. It also eliminates pop-up ads, if you use IE 5.5+.
- Google Alerts provides email updates on the latest Google results for your search query.
- Google's Language Tool , also available on the Google home page, lets you translate a phrase into a foreign language or search for pages in specific languages or located in a specific country.
More Information
Google's help page not only offers contact information and search help, it lists Google Features and Tools (with new items highlighted):
For more detailed descriptions of Google's features, see:
http://www.google.com/help/features.html
Google Guide: An Online Tutorial
For an excellent online tutorial on searching with Google, including it's special features and tools, see Nancy Blachman's Google Guide at:
If you want to print a copy, you'll find a PDF of the entire guide (140 pages), as well as PDFs of individual sections at: http://www.googleguide.com/toc.html .
