Published on February 14, 2022 by Leigh A. Jones, Evening and Weekend Reference Librarian
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It is often argued that Google shouldn’t be used for legal research. This argument is made because, often, Google can yield results that are not reliable. However, there is no denying that, if used appropriately, the search engine can be a great place to begin one’s search for information. (Often, information found through Google should be verified by using another source.) For example, the search engine can be used to identify current issues in the news, to identify keywords that can be used for initial searches in legal research databases, or for purposes of brainstorming. The following are a few tips that can be used to get the most out of a Google search.
When searching with Google, you can use terms and connectors to narrow or expand your searches. For example, there are operators that allow you to search social media, search hashtags, search a specific website, exclude words from a search, and combine searches.
There are ways to narrow your search results so that there is a better chance of finding the exact information that you need. For example, you can narrow searches by content type, time updated, license information, or languages.
Do you want to track new information about a topic? By creating an alert, you can receive an email whenever new results are found in Google Search. You can set alerts for news, products, and even mentions of your name. Also, you can create settings for those alerts that pull information from only certain types of sites and alerts that pull information from a specific part of the world. Also, you can set how many results that you would like to receive with each alert.
After you find information through a Google search, you can save that information so that you can go back to it later. By using Collections, you can save links, images, and places. Once Collections are created, you can share them with others.
The following links can, also, be helpful:
For information about locating reliable sources online, visit the Guide to Evaluating Legal Information Online, a resource developed by the American Association of Law Libraries. Also, feel free to contact a reference librarian at the Beeson Law Library by emailing lawref@samford.edu.