Google Search
If anyone has used the internet he/she has either used or is using Google search. However, most of us do not use it effectively. There a number of ways in which search phrases can be modified to yield better results.
(Please note that this article is only an introduction on what options exist to help us search better. Most of the options are self explanatory. This is an effort to point out these options to assist constructing powerful search phrases. Relevant links to comprehensive information articles where necessary.)
Google Search Introductory Video
1. Advanced search Page
Google offers an advanced search functionality which allows us to specify a number of criteria to narrow down the results to very specific contents.
Click the advanced link to the side of the search box.
This will open the advanced search criteria. The options there are self explanatory.
2. Advance search operators
Google provides a number of "operators" to use directly in the search box to refine results.
One concept to be learned is that if while searching with multiple words (e.g. Steven Johnson Syndrome), google will search for all three words separately. So it will pull up web pages having the words Steven, Johnson & Syndrome in any order (or it may even omit one of the words, e.g. web pages with names of Steven and Johnson without the word syndrome and not necessarily the disease itself).
To force google to search for all these three words together they need to be sorounded by quotation marks - "Steven Johnson Syndrome"
This is a very simple, underestimated and powerful way to search
Other relevant search operators with their explanation can be found on these Google web pages
Essentials of Google Search
Advanced Search made easy
Print and Save - Cheat Sheet
Google Advance search Video
Google Image Search
As the name says it is for searching images. One word of caution - Many of these pictures may be copyrighted. Permission from the author is needed for commercial use.Most search operators which work in the Google home page are relevant for image search also.
There is an advanced image search page which is self explanatory.
One nice feature is that the search can be limited to a particular image size (Large, medium and small). One example of its use is when larger images are required for presentations. However, this option becomes visible only after the search has been performed (See arrow in picture below).
Google Scholar
It is not as powerful as pubmed but it covers a wider range of literature across multiple disciplines. It has a few amazing features hidden in the preferences.1. Restrict search to a particular language
2. Search a particular library (E.g. if you are lucky to study at Harvard, you can use Google scholar to search Harvard library and then access the article using your login name and password)
3. Export to Bibliography managers including Endnote, Refman, Refworks, BibTex and WenXianWang
There is also the "Advanced Scholar Search" for refining search by author, publication (journals) and date.
More information at Google Scholar help or Advanced Scholar tips.
Google Book Search
Google has been indexing all the books and making them searchable. Many popular medical textbooks have been indexed (although I was unable to see Harrison's Internal Medicine and Braunwald's Heart Disease). For medical professionals probably the uses are:1. Books can be previewed before a decision to purchase them is made. Google does not allow reading the complete text as they are copyrighted.
2. Text inside a book can be searched and at times the entire topic of interest may be available for reading, saving a trip to the library.
I hope you find this article useful. Please email your comments and suggestions at medicineandman at gmail dot com and I will make every effort to incorporate them.
Google Book Search and Google Scholar Video (25 min)
Ben Bunnell, a Library Partnerships Manager at Google, gives an overview of Google Book Search and Google Scholar and discusses the origins of both products.
Interesting Links related to Google Search
1. How Doctors use Google2. How do doctors use Google - Blogosphere impact
3. Googling for a diagnosis - British Medical Journal
4. Searching for the Right Search — Reaching the Medical Literature - New England Journal of Medicine