PUBA 313: Communication Skills for Administrators

Web Search Tips

The following suggestions can help you search the web more efficiently. 

• Search for important words only, that is words that you want to find in the search results
• For a more detailed search use Google Advanced Search or learn some of the ways to implement advanced search features using the basic search box. Here is how to use some of the advanced search features in the basic search box:
  • Use some of the strategies you would use to search databases (e.g. quotation marks to search for phrases, asterisk to truncate a term and expand your search, etc.). See the Searching tips page on this guide for more info about search strategies. For example: search for "communication skills" to find web resources that include those two words as a phrase.
  • To make sure all the keywords appear in the title of your source type allintitle:your keywords and then hit enter. For example: allintitle:public speaking will retrieve results where the words public and speaking appear in the title.
  • You may also want to limit your searches to certain site domains. To do so type, for example, site:.edu or site:.gov in the search box before you hit enter. For example: "communication anxiety" site:.edu 

Want to see some of this tips in use? Watch our Google Search Tricks video tutorial on YouTube.

Web Resources

Resources for communication related topics could vary as much as the aspects of communication you could research. Explore the following websites and web resources to find information and/or materials for your research.

American Psychological Association -- American Psychological Association (APA) is the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. Find a myriad of resources, many of which are freely available from the site. Browse from the list of topics or search for specific keywords.

Science Daily -- Find news about the latest discoveries in science, health, technology, society and more; from universities, scientific journals, and research organizations. Browse more than 500 topics available from the sections under the top navigational menu or use the search box to find articles that include the keywords of your choice. Don't miss the links to sources and pertinent citations at the end of most online articles. 

DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) -- Access to free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals. Use keyboards to find journals and/or articles or browse listed subjects.