Week 30: The Research Tool in Google Docs

The Research Tool

Google Docs and Drive offer some built-in tools that can make integrating a wide variety of information quick and easy. One of the most powerful (and overlooked) tool is the Research Tool. The Research Tool is available within Google Documents and Presentations. It allows you to search the web for a specific term, search for quotations from a person or about a topic, look for images, and even look words up in an online dictionary. If you find something that you would like to add to your Document or Presentation, you can insert a link or a citation right from within the Research Tool.

Here's how:

1. Click on the "Tools" menu at the top of the page and click "Research"
   
   
2. The Research Tool will appear on the right side of the page. The Research Tool will often try to predict what you might want to search for based upon what you were working on your Document or Presentation
   
   
3. Enter a word, term or phrase to research at the top of the tool
   
   
4. Clicking the small arrow to the left of the search term allows you to narrow your search to just images, academic articles, quotations, a dictionary, or tables of information
   
   
5. If you place your mouse cursor over some of the information, you will see options to "Preview", "Insert link", or "Cite"
   
   
6. Clicking "Insert link" will insert a link to the information found in the Research Tool
   
   
7. Clicking "Cite" will insert a citation and create a footnote within the Document or Presentation
   
   

Here's a short video that does a good job of demonstrating the Research Tool