Get more from Google
You can get better results from Google if you learn how to be a smart searcher. Try the tips for Advanced Search, Google Scholar and Image Search below.
For more subject-specific sources, you should also try our databases, available through your course resource help page.
What's great about Google?
- Fast and easy
- Great for quick queries
- Variety of formats: video, images, news etc.
- Automatic language translation
What are the problems with Google?
- Too many results - information overload!
- Results not always relevant
- Sources not necessarily reliable
- Can be difficult to pick out the most useful info.

The URL for Google Advanced Search is: https://www.google.com/advanced_search. Or, you can just Google 'advanced search'!
Google advanced search allows you to combine search terms, using Boolean search functions (AND, OR, NOT) to design a better search. The Boolean search video will show you how.
Once you've mastered this, try using the advanced search filters.
The video will show you how to filter your results by language, region, last update, website type or file format.
These can be useful for telling Google specifically what to look for, where to look and what you want in your results.
Find lots of academic content including journal articles, theses and case law using Google Scholar.
And if you change your settings to look for Oxford Brookes content, it will tell you when an article is available in full text through the Library! We show you how in our Library Links video.
Just like Google text search, Google image search has advanced options that can be really helpful.
Watch the video on finding images and gifs to learn how to find great pictures, photos and animated images for your projects and presentations.
Don't forget to reference the images you find.
It is wise to be aware that some images can be misleading - this guide from Full Fact explains how to spot a fake.