During the old days, writing an essay or completing an assignment means visiting a library. In the new age, with the creation of Internet, a successful research can be done by just about anyone with an access to the network.

This article will show you how to use 5 powerful Google Tools to make writing an assignment a breeze.

Google Scholar This is a little known Google tool. Created for the research community in mind, you are just a click away from medical journals, scientific papers and expert opinions on matters ranging from medicine to academic reports.

Although some research papers or journals may need payment or special access, most sites have an abstract or journal summary to help you with your work. In fact, this could be a blessing since many scientific journals are undecipherable. Reading a summary saves you time and a lot of unnecessary headache.

Why do we point out this tool first? The reason is simple. A reference to a scientific journal is a sure way to gain credibility and trust.

Google News To get the current news on your topic, head on to this part of Google. It gathers the latest information from sites all over the world and is so current, the news heading changes every few minutes.

The good thing about the Google News is it has a search feature, allowing you to seek any news item related to your topic. If your deadline is a few weeks away, you may want to subscribe to the Google Alert. This free service will email you news items related to the keyword you specify.

For example, if you’re doing a research on ozone depletion, you would want to set the alert on the keyword” ozone” and wait an email from the Google team for any development or news related to the term. You don’t have to look for information because with Google News, it comes to you.

Google Books If you hate web pages that churn out useless information, why not look for information in books? This way your research will be fairly balanced and it will seemed as if you’ve gone to your library to complete your assignment.

With Google Books, you have access to millions of books made available by publishers all over the world. In scanned forms, some books are available in its entirety while others offer just a few pages of the books gist.

Yes, it may sound as if you are doing research from scraps but some books offers many pages, enough for filling up bits of pieces of information you may need to complete your assignment.

If too much of your reference are web pages, you know it’s time to head on to Google Books. It’ll save your research paper from being thrashed by your teacher or lecturer.

Google Answers Ask, and you shall receive, advised the Bible. Well, when it comes to the Internet, if you can’t find your information, just ask. Most likely you will receive the information you need.

With Google Answers, real human beings will answer your questions. Some are ordinary folks like you and me while others may be an expert on specific niche.

A paid service, you may want to save your hard earned cash by looking for answered questions first. If you’ve exhausted all options, this could be your savior.

Google Notebook This nifty little tool is another Google tool not known by many. If you’re doing an online research, you know how painful it is to find one piece of information from pages you have saved from the Internet.

Google Notebook will make things much easier for you by making sure you only save the particular section or paragraph that is related to your search. Better than that, it can also store pictures and save the site URL automatically. This way you will know where you get the information and will make things easy when you’re compiling your reference list.

While this may not sound like much, you’ll be surprised at how much time it saves you and how more efficient your information gathering will be with Google Notebook. Once you used it, you’ll stick with it the next time you’re doing your assignment, guaranteed.

These 5 tools created by Google are really useful for those who are doing an online research. Next time you get an assignment, just remember these key tools – Google Scholar, Answers, News, Notebook and Google Books. Enjoy the tips and happy researching!

Lela Iskandar
http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/