A Google® Tool Kit: OK, Missing Link, and @

“What happens if a big asteroid hits Earth? Judging from realistic simulations involving a sledge hammer and a common laboratory frog, we can assume it will be pretty bad.” -- Dave Barry (American Writer and Humorist, b.1947)

Here are three tools to add to your online research toolkit.  Each of the three tools is a search statement.  But, just as there are all kinds of hammer – ball peen, tack, and sledge, to name a few – there are lots of different types of search statement.

Let’s say, for example, that a colleague has alerted you to the existence of the Southwest Research Institute (http://www.swri.org).  You want to determine whether its services can help you in your area of research.

SwRI’s Web is your first stop, of course.  But what if you are particularly interested in that organization’s work on desulfurization?

Tool #1: OK

Search String Format: [ Organization ] + [ Keyword ]

If you Google® swri desulfurization , for example, some of the results are …
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PASS 2 - SwRI
www.swri.org/3pubs/brochure/d03/PASS2/home.htmYou +1'd this publicly. Undo
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
advancement using SwRI's patented PASS technology, the PASS 2 system approach greatly simplifies the process of sulfur trapping and desulfurization.
SwRI Aftertreatment R&D
www.swri.org/4org/d08/emmres/aftertreat/home.htmCachedYou +1'd this publicly. Undo
SwRI BAR.gif (804 bytes) ... NOx reduction performance; Regeneration and desulfurization strategy development; Durability testing; System integration ...

Publications - SwRI
www.swri.org/3pubs/ttoday/Fall10/.../Technical-Staff-Activities.pdfYou +1'd this publicly. Undo
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
... M. “Review on Sulfur Removal from. Liquid Fuels by Oxidative Desulfurization. (ODS) Process.” Recent Patents on Chemical. Engineering, 3, (2010): 30–37.
Southwest Research Institute on DieselNet
www.dieselnet.com/swri/Cached - SimilarYou +1'd this publicly. Undo
SwRI services address every aspect of the diesel engine, from clean-sheet design all the way through ... Regeneration and desulfurization strategy development ...
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Tool #2: Missing Link

Search String Format: linkedin scientists [ organization ]

SwRI employs a large number of very talented scientists.  Suppose you want to get a sense of who they are without spending a lot of time doing so.  An easy way to learn more about them is to Google® the following …

Linkedin scientists swri

Here are some of the results …
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Bill Hosek  
Principal Scientist at Southwest Research Institute
San Antonio, Texas Area · Research

Kennedy Gauger  
Principal Scientist at Southwest Research Institute
San Antonio, Texas Area · Research

Amy G.  
Research Scientist
San Antonio, Texas Area · Environmental Services

Vicky P.  
Senior Research Scientist at Southwest Research Institute
San Antonio, Texas Area · Research

Jerry H.  
Lecturer at University of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas Area · Research

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Tip: to make this work, you really should join LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) … but you’re already a member, aren’t you?

Tool #3: “@”

Search String Format: “@ [organization].[org OR com OR gov]”

Now suppose you have identified one SwRI researcher in particular that you would like to contact.  How do you find his or her email address?
Once you find the email address of one researcher in an organization, you have a clue as to how to format the email address of any particular individual in that organization that you want to contact. 
For example ..

GOOGLE the following …
"@swri.org"

Here are a couple of results …

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[PDF] 
From: Flannigan, Clay [mailto:clay.flannigan@swri.org] Sent ...
www.nist.gov/public_affairs/.../southwest-research-institute.pdf
You +1'd this publicly.
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
From: Flannigan, Clay [mailto:clay.flannigan@swri.org]. Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 7:14 PM. To: amtech. Cc: Evans, Paul T. Subject: SwRI AMTech ...

[PDF] 
Investigation of Corrosion in Fuel Systems
www.swri.edu/3pubs/.../d18/.../InvestigationCorrosionFuelSystems.p...
You +1'd this publicly
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
james.dante@swri.org florent.bocher@swri.org. Materials Engineering Department ... San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510 swri.org · corrosiontechnology. swri.org. S ...
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These gives us a clue.  The email pattern seems to be [firstname.lastname]@swri.org

So if you are trying to contact, say, Andrew Lerche, try sending an email to: Andrew.lerche@swri.org

This does not always work, but it costs nothing to try.

One thing that always works … reading the online research tips and tricks in the Desulfurization Blog (www.desulf.blogspot.com).  They will help you maximize the effectiveness of your online research.