Advanced search techniques for reporters

Skill:

Level:

    • Google Advanced Search, search operators, deep searching a government website with a lousy search tool, Google Dataset Search, Google Scholar. Data sources — Google Public Data explorer and other data portals that collect information so we don’t have to go fetch it.

    Warmup tools

    Thsrs.com: The Shorter Thesaurus
    http://www.ironicsans.com/thsrs/

    Lose the Very
    https://www.losethevery.com/#

    Public Data Explorer: https://www.google.com/publicdata/directory


     Video: Census (first tool)

    Dataset Search: https://datasetsearch.research.google.com/


     Video: Dataset Search

    Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/
    Search academic journals and case law

    Search Operators

    Search within a site for a topic: site:cdc .gov SARS

    Search for a file format/topic: filetype: .csv us mass shootings

    Search a range: Put .. between two numbers. 

    Example: camera $500..$1000

    Sites similar to one you’re searching: Put “related:” in front of a web address you already know. 

    Example, related:time.com

    Look at a website’s cache: Put “cache:” in front of the site address to see an earlier version of the story/site. 


    Example: cache:journaliststoolbox.org

    Search for an exact image size: Right after the word you’re looking for, add the text imagesize:widthxheight. Make sure to add the dimensions in pixels.

    Example: Eiffel Tower imagesize:500×500

    Search a Twitter list: site:twitter.com inurl:lists <michelin starred>


    Video: Search tips

    Google’s official search operators list: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en
    There are many “cheat sheets” on the web, some better than others. Here’s another good one.
    More Google Advanced Search tips: https://www.codespaces.com/power-searching-with-google.html

    More training on Reporting & Writing:

    Google Earth Studio

    Learn how to use Google Earth Studio, Google Earth Pro, Google Earth Timelapse and Earth Measure Tool with training by author and data journalism expert Mike Reilley.

    Skill:

    Level:

    • To the Point 101 — Why we’re doing it and what successful TTP looks like

    We know our younger digital readers are seeking scannable, easy-to-digest content. Here’s what it is (and isn’t), how our efforts so far are helping us reach readers with premium and metered content and some successful examples on how newsrooms are putting it to use and making it a priority.

    Skill:

    Level:

    • Google tools for journalists

    Google Fact-Check Explorer, Google Public Data Explorer, Google Trends, Google search shortcuts/advanced search), MapChecking for crowd size estimates, PhantomBuster, VisualPing for tracking website updates and other cool tools and hacks.

    Skill:

    Level:

    • Microsoft Excel 05 – What if

    The more data you have, the more questions you will have about it, and the more answers it can provide. Excel has a variety of conditional formulas that let you evaluate subsets of your data to find the stories to tell: If…Then formulas; Conditional Functions; XLOOKUP; Array Functions.

    Skill:

    Level: