The other day I was in a workshop with a group of local principals and we were talking about ways that we could share ideas and information with each other. We wanted something that would allow us to mine the information that we all share with our families rather than reinvent the wheel every time we needed an article or blurb about a common subject. Since all of us publish our community newsletters on the web, someone suggested a way to search each others web sites rather than have to visit and look. Google Custom Search came to mind.
With Google CustomSearch you can create a search tool that searches one website,multiple websites, or specific web pages. With just a little bit of work, we created a custom search page that we can share with one another. It limits its searches to just our school web sites. Say I'm looking for some guidance concerning how to inform my families of a particular subject or issue. Now I can pull up our custom search page and tap into the knowledge and experience of my colleagues at neighboring schools. Google Custom Search can also be utilized on school web pages and Google's licensing agreement for educational institutions allows you to return search results without ads.
Next Tip: Putting Maps on your Site
