Infopeople's new workshop "Extreme Googling"

[Lori Ayre]

Since this announcement might not reach everyone who might be interested in 
this workshop, we would appreciate it if you would please print and post or 
route the announcement to your colleagues.


Title:  Extreme Googling

Dates and locations:

Thursday, July 29, San Francisco Public Library
Monday, September 13, Los Angeles Public Library
Tuesday, September 28, San Jose, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
Thursday, October 14, Cerritos Public Library Thursday, October 28,
California State Library

To register for this workshop:  Use the online registration form at
http://infopeople.org/WS/workshop/Workshop/169

Fee:  There is a $75.00 fee for this workshop.


Everyone uses Google, especially when we want to find an answer fast. 
Google is the largest web database available, has an effective system of 
ranking results, and can be very simple to use. But if you really want to 
get the MOST out of Google, you need to know more about:

--how Google "thinks" about searches;
--how to manipulate the "mind" of Google;
--when and why word order matters;
--how to make Google search on synonyms;
--how to find .com and .org sites from within a foreign country; --when it's
best to limit by field, file type, or site; --when to use "Related pages"
and "Cache" and --what you can do in Google Basic search that you can't do
in Advanced.

In this course you will learn all these things and more. You will also 
learn about the latest developments in other major search engines, and what 
to do when Google does not give you what you need. This course will sharpen 
your search skills, improve your efficiency, and put you in touch with 
powerful new web-searching techniques.


Workshop Description: This all-day hands-on workshop will give you a chance 
to learn and practice using Google's features and understand when each can 
be of particular benefit. You will explore how to take full advantage of 
Google's specialized searchable databases, and you will find out about 
bookmarklets and Google APIs. We will also evaluate the merits of search 
engines, directories, databases, and other alternatives to Googling. The 
instructor will provide you with, and you will learn to use, cheat sheets 
for the advanced capabilities of Google and other search tools.

Preliminary Course Outline:

The Mind of Google
--Default "thinking"
--Google Toolbar features
--Taking over the driving in Google
--Fine-tuning default settings

Finding the Hard-to-Get
--Limiting, focusing, related pages, and cache
--Advanced and basic searches
--Searching within a site
--Looking for good directories, databases, and weblogs
--Google as an encyclopedic glossary

Special Databases and Tools
--Google Groups, Directory, Images, News, Froogle
--Translating with Google
--Bookmarklets

What to Do When Google Doesn't Work
--Other search engines' strengths
--Thinking in synch with search engines

Workshop Instructor: Joe Barker.  Joe works full-time, year-round job as a 
reference and instruction librarian in the Teaching Library at the 
University of California, Berkeley, where he works at the reference desks 
in the Moffitt and Doe libraries. Since 1995, he has been coordinating the 
Berkeley libraries' web searching classes, and has maintained an online 
web-searching tutorial that is still one of the most linked-to web 
searching tutorials in the world. His new Extreme Googling class 
synthesizes and integrates much of what he has learned over the years about 
searching, anchored in getting the most one can out of Google.

Who Should Attend: Anyone from the California library community who does 
web searching and has some experience with the basics of using Google 
and/or other search engines. Reference and any other staff who wish to 
improve and/or update their search skills and comfort levels. Frequent 
Google users who want to optimize their Googling.

Prerequisites: This course requires that students be comfortable with basic 
computer skills, including using a mouse, navigating the web, basic 
keyboarding, and submitting simple searches to Google or other search 
engines. For help with these basic skills, we recommend the New Computer 
Users section of the Infopeople How-to Guides, at infopeople.org/howto.

Other Logistics:

*On-site check-in is from 8:30-9:00 AM;  instruction is from 9:00 AM-4:30
PM.

*Maps, directions, and parking information are available on the Infopeople 
Web site at http://infopeople.org/WS/workshop/Directions.  Infopeople does 
not validate or pay for parking.

*Infopeople does not provide refreshments or lunch.  Since some training 
locations do not have in-house or convenient food service, Infopeople 
recommends that participants bring a sack lunch.

To view a complete list of Infopeople workshops and for general information 
about Infopeople training opportunities, go to the main Infopeople 
Workshops page at http://infopeople.org/WS/workshop

If you have questions about registration or scheduling of workshops, please 
contact Linda Rodenspiel, the Infopeople Project Assistant, at 
assist at infopeople.org or by phone at 650-578-9685.