In this long-form chat that acts as a pre-recorded class visit you can watch anytime, we review how to use Google, the PG Library, and generative AI tools like ChatGPT.

In most web search engines, including Google, you can add site: before either a specific address (ex: www.nytimes.com) or domain (ex: gov, org, or edu).  For example:

motor vehicle theft rates site:gov

The U.S. federal government is a large publisher of statistics and many basics statistics researchers and businesses rely on come from them, especially from the U.S. Census.  For most basic statistics, limiting your search with site:gov will help limit your results to factual, reliable sources.

You can also visit individual department or organization websites that offer statistics in a particular area. For direct access to some frequently used data hubs, visit the links below.

Google offers a number of options and search tricks you can use to refine results. Some highlights include:

• Site:
• Filetype: 
• “Phrase search”
• intitle: 

Don't forget the clickable filters from menus in Google, including:

• Tools > Any Time menu to change date
• Tools > All Results menu to change to Verbatim to tighten results

See the links below for more comprehensive lists of options.