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CIT 211 INFORMATION LITERACY SKILLS�SESSION 4 – TOOLS, STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES OF SEARCHING

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SESSION OVERVIEW

AT THE END OF THE SESSION, THE STUDENT WILL BE ABLE TO:

KNOW THE DIFFERENT TOOLS USED IN SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION
UNDERSTAND THE TECHNIQUES OF SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION

Slide 2

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SESSION OUTLINE

THE KEY TOPICS TO BE COVERED IN THE SESSION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES
DATABASE SEARCH STRATEGIES
TECHNIQUES OF SEARCHING

Slide 3

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READING LIST

BADKE, WILLIAM (2014). RESEARCH STRATEGIES: FINDING YOUR WAY THROUGH THE INFORMATION FOG, 5^TH ED. BLOOMINGTON: IUNIVERSE
READ CHAPTER 3, 4 & 5

Slide 4

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES

Slide 5

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PLANNING A SEARCH STRATEGY

DEFINE YOUR INFORMATION NEED
DECIDE WHICH SOURCES TO USE
FIND OUT HOW THEY FUNCTION/CAN BE USED EFFECTIVELY
RUN YOUR SEARCH
REVIEW AND REFINE YOU SEARCH RESULTS

YOU CAN BEGIN THIS PROCESS ON PAPER BEFORE USING THE COMPUTER

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DEFINE YOUR INFORMATION NEED

TYPE OF INFORMATION?

SPECIFIC INFORMATION, E.G. A FACT, DATE, DEFINITION

REFERENCE SOURCE, E.G. DATA BOOK, ENCYCLOPAEDIA, DICTIONARY, THE WEB OR EVEN A TEXTBOOK ARE USUALLY BEST.

GENERAL INFORMATION, E.G. RESEARCH TOPICS

MAY REQUIRE MORE THOUGHT, INCLUDING HOW MUCH INFORMATION IS NEEDED AND AT WHAT DEPTH

END USER OF THE INFORMATION?

RESEARCHER? ACADEMIC? FIRST YEAR STUDENT?

THIS MIGHT EFFECT WHICH SORT OF INFORMATION YOU REQUIRE

Specific information

Are you looking for specific information (such as the date that the Antarctic Ozone hole was discovered) or for more general information (maybe an overview, or a literature survey, of a particular subject)?

Specific information can normally be answered quickly by using a reference source (e.g. data book, encyclopaedia, dictionary, the World Wide Web) or even a textbook.

General/research type information may require more thought, including how much information is needed and at what depth. These considerations will affect the next steps in the searching process.

You may also need to consider who is going to use the information. Information needs and requirements may vary from user to user and so there may be different methods of searching and searching strategies that are appropriate.

Think about the different kinds of information needs and therefore searching requirements that each of the user groups listed may require:

Librarians
Researchers
Academics
Students
Etc.

And discuss them with the participants.

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DEFINE YOUR INFORMATION NEED CONT…

CAREFUL CHOICE OF SEARCH TERM(S) IS VITAL

WHAT KEY WORDS DO YOU THINK WILL APPEAR ON THE SITE/ARTICLE YOU WANT?
WHAT KEY CONCEPTS? IS IT A PART OF OR RELATED TO?
ARE THERE ANY SYNONYMS FOR THESE KEYWORDS OR CONCEPTS?
ARE THERE ANY ALTERNATIVE SPELLINGS FOR YOUR KEYWORDS/CONCEPTS
ARE PLURALS OR CAPITALISATION INVOLVED?

Search terms are often subject keywords, but can also be names, molecular formulae or significant numbers, depending on what you are searching for and the source you are using.

Think about your subject, and what keywords and concepts it is part of or related to. It may be an idea to have a piece of paper and write down all aspects of the subject you can think of and then decide which are relevant to your search.

If you are new to a subject it may be worth finding a brief outline from an encyclopaedia, dictionary, textbook or a knowledgeable colleague.

Are there any synonyms (words with similar meaning) for any of the words (see next slide for examples)?

Are there any alternative spellings? E.g. neighbourhood or neighborhood, cooperative or co-operative, analyse or analyze, or different spellings for place names

Finally, do you need to consider plurals/capitalisation of your keywords? E.g. search for mouse and mice? Search for ‘New Scientist’ (which may lead you to the journal) rather than ‘new scientist’ (which may lead you to articles about people who have just become scientists!)

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EXAMPLE: I WANT TO FIND INFORMATION ABOUT THE HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF WATER POLLUTION

KEYWORDS–’WATER’ ‘POLLUTION’ ‘HEALTH’

CONCEPTS–‘ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION’ OR ‘AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT’ OR ‘HEALTH’

SYNONYMS

RIVERS, LAKES, SEA, COASTAL, 'DOMESTIC WATER’, ETC
‘OIL SPILLS’, CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL, ETC.

ALTERNATIVE SPELLINGS: NONE

PLURALS: RIVER(S), LAKE(S), DISEASE(S)

CAPITALS: MAYBE THE NAME OF A SPECIFIC LAKE, DISEASE, REGION

This planning stage of the search can be done away from the computer, using pen and paper.

For example if I put in the search ‘water pollution’ I would get a huge number of results including topics in the fields of ecology, health, chemistry, shipping, agriculture, and more.

By including the appropriate concept (e.g. if I was interested in the health implications of contaminated water and used the keyword ‘health’) I could narrow down my search to match my information needs and get a more focused group of results.

Including synonyms (words with similar meaning) or related terms, alternative spelling, plurals and capital letters will also help ensure that I search for all documents that may be related to my query. For example, if I searched for ‘health’ ‘water’ and ‘pollution’ I may miss articles which talk about ‘illness caused by contamination of drinking supplies’.

Some databases, abstracts and indexes have a thesaurus which can help identify synonyms, etc.

As well as considering the search terms we use we should also be aware that the way that we input and combine terms will affect our search results, and depend on the source that we are using.

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DECIDE WHICH SOURCES TO USE

WHAT SOURCES ARE APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR INFORMATION NEED?

INDIVIDUALS’ AND ORGANISATIONS’ HOME PAGES
NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES
SUBJECT GATEWAYS, DATABASES, CATALOGUES
JOURNALS—TITLES, ABSTRACTS OR FULL TEXT
REFERENCE RESOURCES, E.G., ENCYCLOPAEDIAS, DICTIONARIES
BOOKS
GREY LITERATURE, E.G. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
PRINT OR ELECTRONIC

Choose which sources to use and search them out

Thinking about the subject and, bearing in mind your information needs, you can select the best information sources to use. It is often best to search for recent information first as good sources will lead you to earlier ones, through the lists of references at the end of chapter of books or end of journal articles.

If you need specific information try:

Reference sources including data books, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, handbooks, compilations of spectra, directories, or the Internet. Relevant text books often include specific data also.

If you need an introduction to a subject try:

Reference works including encyclopaedias, dictionaries and handbooks; textbooks, monographs, readers, theses or dissertations; broad subject journals (most have yearly subject indexes), a review article.

It is really these last two tasks that are most suited for using electronic resources although searching catalogues, etc, can be useful to alert you to the existence of a particular book, etc, even if it doesn’t allow you to see the full text.

If you need a comprehensive literature search on a subject use:

Databases, abstracts, indexes, and citation indexes, bibliographies , or reviews should enable you to compile a list of references to relevant books, journal articles, conference papers, reports, theses and patents which you can then go and locate. The Internet can also be useful, by using subject gateways or search engines, though be wary, as the quality and accuracy of information on the Web can be very variable!

If you need to keep up with new developments use:

Databases , recent issues of abstracts and indexes and current awareness publications will alert you to new references on your subject that you can then go and locate. Additionally, if your subject is well covered by a few key journals then you could look at these as they are published. The Internet can also be useful, by using search engines, bookmarking useful sites and re-visiting, and by joining relevant newsgroups (though be wary, as again the quality and accuracy of information on the Web can be very variable!)

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FIND OUT HOW TO EFFECTIVELY USE SOURCES�

WHAT SEARCH STRATEGIES CAN BE APPLIED?
HOW CAN YOU BROADEN SEARCH TERMS?
HOW CAN YOU NARROW SEARCH TERMS?
WHAT STRATEGIES ARE NOT SUPPORTED?
HOW HAS TOPICS BEEN INDEXED?

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�RUN YOUR SEARCH, REVIEW AND REFINE YOU SEARCH RESULTS�

SEARCH USING THE IDENTIFIED SEARCH STRATEGIES THAT ARE APPROPRIATE
VIEW RESULTS
EVALUATE RESULTS FOR RELEVANCE
REFINE SEARCH QUERY
RE-RUN THE SEARCH

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ELECTRONIC SEARCH TOOLS

HELPS YOU SIFT THROUGH THE HUGE RANGE OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE
USE KEYWORDS TO BROWSE OR PERFORM SIMPLE OR ADVANCED SEARCHES
ALL FUNCTION SLIGHTLY DIFFERENTLY

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES

KEYWORD SEARCH
BOOLEAN SEARCH + IMPLIED BOOLEAN
NATURAL LANGUAGE SEARCH
PROXIMITY OPERATORS
TRUNCATION/WILDCARDS
SUBJECT HEADINGS – CONTROLLED VOCABULARY
THESAURUS OR INDEX

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES (2)

KEYWORD SEARCH

STANDARD WAYS OF RETRIEVING INFORMATION FROM ANY ELECTRONIC DATABASE, IE ONLINE LIBRARY CATALOG , PERIODICAL DATABASE OR INTERNET DATABASE.
KEYWORDS DESCRIBE TOPIC OF RESEARCH
CAN BE INDIVIDUAL WORDS OR A PHRASE
CHOOSE SIGNIFICANT WORDS & COME UP WITH SYNONYMS
KEY WORD SEARCH AVAILABLE IN ALMOST ALL DATABASES

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(3)

KEYWORD SEARCH ……

MANY DATABASES REQUIRE EXPLICIT DESCRIPTION OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KEYWORDS
EG ALTERNATIVE FUELS BEING USED IN AUTOMOBILES
ALTERNATIVE FUELS: ELECTRICITY, ETHANOL, NATURAL GAS, HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS
AUTOMOBILES: CARS, VEHICLES, TRANSPORTATION,�MOTOR VEHICLE

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(4)

BOOLEAN SEARCH

BOOLEAN USES THREE COMMON WORDS AS LOGICAL OPERATORS; AND, OR AND NOT
ALLOWS ONE TO COMBINE WORDS AND PHRASES TO EITHER LIMIT OR EXPAND THE SEARCH
OR - CONNECTOR THAT ALLOWS EITHER WORD TO BE PRESENT IN EACH RECORD IN RESULTS. USE OR TO EXPAND YOUR SEARCH.

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EXAMPLE

SEARCH TERM HITS
ADOLESCENTS 15,900,000 HITS
TEENAGERS 34,600,000 HITS
ADOLESCENTS OR TEENAGERS 46,500,000 HITS
EITHER 'ADOLESCENTS' OR 'TEENAGERS' (OR BOTH) WILL BE PRESENT IN EACH RECORD.

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(5)

BOOLEAN …..

AND - CONNECTOR THAT REQUIRES BOTH WORDS TO BE PRESENT IN EACH RECORD IN RESULTS. USE AND TO NARROW YOUR SEARCH.
ADOLESCENTS AND TEENAGERS 7,390,000 HITS
NOT - CONNECTOR THAT REQUIRES FIRST WORD BE PRESENT IN EACH RECORD IN RESULTS, BUT ONLY IF RECORD DOES NOT CONTAIN SECOND WORD.
ADOLESCENTS NOT TEENAGERS 27,100,000 HITS

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(6)

OR - ALLOWS EITHER WORD TO BE PRESENT IN EACH RECORD IN RESULTS
USE OR TO EXPAND YOUR SEARCH.

ADOLESCENTS OR TEENAGERS

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Adolescents

Teenagers

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(7)

AND - REQUIRES BOTH WORDS TO BE PRESENT IN EACH RECORD IN RESULTS
USE AND TO NARROW YOUR SEARCH.
ADOLESCENTS AND TEENAGERS

ADOLESCENTS AND TEENAGERS

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Adolescents

Teenagers

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(8)

NOT - REQUIRES FIRST WORD BE PRESENT IN EACH RECORD IN RESULTS, BUT ONLY IF RECORD DOES NOT CONTAIN SECOND WORD.
OPERATOR NOT IS ALSO USED TO MAKE A MORE RESTRICTIVE SEARCH

ADOLESCENTS NOT TEENAGERS

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Adolescents

Teenagers

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VIDEO

BOOLEAN SEARCHING BASICS

HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM

Slide 23

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(9)

IMPLIED BOOLEAN

REFERS TO SEARCH IN WHICH SYMBOLS ARE USED TO REPRESENT BOOLEAN LOGICAL OPERATORS
(+) REPRESENTS AND
THE MINUS SIGN (-) REPRESENTS NOT
NO SIGN AT ALL AS AN OR RELATION.
EXAMPLES:
+SCIENTIFIC_REVOLUTION +WOMEN_ IN _EUROPE

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(10)

PHRASE SEARCH — ENCLOSING PHRASE IN QUOTATION MARKS HELP ENSURE THAT DATABASE SEARCHES FOR THOSE WORDS AS A GROUP.

DATABASE THEN SEARCHES FOR THOSE WORD TOGETHER IN SPECIFIC ORDER YOU PROVIDED.

PHRASES OR COMBINATIONS OF WORDS�“SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION" OR SCIENTIFIC_REVOLUTION

PREDETERMINED LANGUAGE IN A USER FILL-IN TEMPLATE

ALL OF THESE WORDS (=AND) ANY OF THESE WORDS (=OR) MUST NOT CONTAIN (=NOT)

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(11)

TRUNCATION SHORTENING A WORD OR ELIMINATING SOME CHARACTERS FROM A LONGER TERM TO PICK UP VARIANTS

A FORM OF THE BOOLEAN OPERATOR OR.
ITEMS THAT SHARE A COMMON SEQUENCE OF CHARACTERS, EVEN IF THEY DO NOT SHARE ALL THE SAME CHARACTERS ARE PUT INTO SINGLE SET
PROCESS CALLED ‘WILDCARD’ SEARCH OR STEMMING

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(12)

SOME DATABASES ALLOW CERTAIN SYMBOLS TO BE USED FOR SEARCHING DIFFERENT FORMS OF A WORD (SUCH AS PLURALS) OR DIFFERENT SPELLINGS
CHECK HELP SCREENS OF PARTICULAR DATABASE TO DETERMINE APPROPRIATE SYMBOLS TO USE.
SYMBOLS USED IN TRUNCATION
ASTERISK (*)
QUESTION MARK (?)
COLON (:)
PLUS SIGN (+)

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(13)

ADOLESCEN* RETRIEVES ADOLESCENT, ADOLESCENTS, OR ADOLESCENCE (RIGHT TRUNCATION)
TEEN##### WOULD RETRIEVE TEENS AND TEENAGER AND TEENAGERS
*SHIP RETRIEVES RELATIONSHIP, LIBRARIANSHIP, FRIENDSHIP (LEFT TRUNCATION)
WOM#N RETRIEVES WOMAN OR WOMEN (MIDDLE TRUNCATION)

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(14)

NATURAL LANGUAGE SEARCH

EASIEST TO UNDERSTAND, BUT MANY DATABASES DON'T OFFER IT AS A FUNCTION.
SEARCH USING REGULAR SPOKEN LANGUAGE, SUCH AS ENGLISH.
ASK DATABASE QUESTION OR TYPE SENTENCE THAT DESCRIBES INFORMATION YOU ARE LOOKING FOR
DATABASE THEN USES PROGRAMMED LOGIC TO DETERMINE KEYWORDS IN SENTENCE BY THEIR POSITION IN SENTENCE.
THE INTERNET SEARCH SERVICE ASK.COM OFFERS NATURAL LANGUAGE SEARCHING. ASK.COM

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(15)

PROXIMITY OPERATORS (CLOSENESS)

PROXIMITY OPERATORS – ALLOW LOCATION OF ONE WORD WITHIN CERTAIN DISTANCE OF ANOTHER.
SYMBOLS GENERALLY USED IN THIS TYPE OF SEARCH ARE W AND N.
W REPRESENTS WORD "WITH(IN)" AND N REPRESENTS WORD "NEAR."
TYPE OF SEARCH NOT AVAILABLE IN ALL DATABASES.
NEAR OPERATOR (NX) — FINDS WORDS WITHIN X NUMBER OF WORDS FROM EACH OTHER, REGARDLESS OF ORDER IN WHICH THEY OCCUR.
EXAMPLE: TELEVISION N2 VIOLENCE WOULD FIND "TELEVISION VIOLENCE" OR "VIOLENCE ON TELEVISION," BUT NOT "TELEVISION MAY BE THE CULPRIT IN RECENT HIGH SCHOOL VIOLENCE."

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INTERNET SEARCH STRATEGIES(16)

WITHIN OPERATOR (WX) — FINDS WORDS WITHIN X NUMBER OF WORDS FROM EACH OTHER, IN ORDER THEY ARE ENTERED IN SEARCH.
EXAMPLE: FRANKLIN W2 ROOSEVELT WOULD FIND FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT OR FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT OR FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, BUT WOULD NOT FIND ROOSEVELT FRANKLIN.

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TOPIC THREE

DATABASE SEARCH STRATEGIES

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DATABASE SEARCH STRATEGIES

SUBJECT HEADINGS – CONTROLLED VOCABULARY
MATCH SEARCH SUBJECT OR CONCEPT WITH TERM USED BY INDEXER
TWO BASIC LISTS OF SUBJECT HEADINGS CONSULTED BY REFERENCE LIBRARIANS
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SUBJECT HEADINGS- LISTS THE STANDARD LC SUBJECT HEADING IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
SEARS LIST OF SUBJECT HEADINGS – ROUGH EQUIVALENT OF THE LC SUBJECT HEADINGS FOR SMALLER LIBRARIES.

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DATABASE SEARCH STRATEGIES (2)

RESULTS OF AN INITIAL SEARCH REVEAL THAT ARTICLE CITATIONS HAVE SUBJECT HEADINGS OR DESCRIPTORS. ARTICLES THAT HAVE SIMILAR CONTENT WILL HAVE SAME SUBJECT HEADINGS EVEN IF AUTHORS OF ARTICLES USED DIFFERENT TERMS TO DESCRIBE TOPIC.
FOR EXAMPLE, ONE AUTHOR MAY USE PHRASE "CAPITAL PUNISHMENT" AND ANOTHER "DEATH PENALTY."
SUBJECT HEADING ON BOTH RECORDS WILL BE SAME.
SOMETIMES SUBJECT HEADINGS ARE HYPERLINKED
CAN LINK TO OTHER ARTICLES WITH SIMILAR CONTENT.

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DATABASE SEARCH STRATEGIES(3)

THESAURUS OR INDEX

A LIST OF SUBJECT HEADINGS USED IN PARTICULAR DATABASE IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS A THESAURUS.
SOME DATABASES HAVE SOPHISTICATED THESAURI THAT PROVIDE CROSS-REFERENCES.
EG "DEATH PENALTY,“ THESAURUS MIGHT ASK YOU TO USE "CAPITAL PUNISHMENT" INSTEAD
SOME THESAURI ALSO INCLUDE DESCRIPTION OF TERM, AND A LIST OF BROADER, NARROWER, AND RELATED TERMS.

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TOPIC FOUR�

TECHNIQUES OF SEARCHING

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��

DEFINE YOUR INFORMATION NEED OR FORMULATE YOUR TOPIC. FOR EXAMPLE: THE INVOLVEMENT OF WOMEN IN THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION OF THE 16^TH-18^TH CENTURIES IN EUROPE
IDENTIFY KEYWORDS/CONCEPTS IN THE TOPIC – ARTICLES AND PREPOSITIONS NOT KEYWORDS ;FOR EXAMPLE : WOMEN, SCIENCE, EUROPE, 16^TH CENTURY
FIND SYNONYMS FOR KEYWORDS/CONCEPTS – BROADER TERMS, NARROWER TERMS OR RELATED TERMS, SPELLING VARIANTS, ABBREVIATIONS, ALTERNATIVE WORDS

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TECHNIQUES OF SEARCHING

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TECHNIQUES OF SEARCHING

EG: WOMEN: GENDER, FEMALE ;SCIENCE: ZOOLOGY, BIOLOGY, MEDICINE, ETC; EUROPE: ENGLAND, ITALY, GERMANY, FRANCE, ETC; 15^TH, 17^TH, 18^TH, ENLIGHTENMENT AGE
WORDS AND SYNONYMS BECOME SEARCH TERMS
USE SEARCH TOOLS (SEARCH ENGINES, ETC
COMBINE SEARCH TERMS WITH BOOLEAN OPERATORS

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EXECUTING THE SEARCH

IF YOUR SEARCH RETURNS TOO MANY MATCHES:

ADD MORE AND TERMS TO PINPOINT YOUR AREA OF INTEREST.
ADD MORE NOT TERMS TO ELIMINATE IRRELEVANT MATCHES.

IF YOUR SEARCH RETURNS TOO LITTLE MATCHES:

TRY REDUCING THE NUMBER OF AND TERMS TO BROADEN YOUR AREA OF FOCUS
TRY ADDING VARIANTS OF YOUR SEARCH TERMS WITH OR.
USE A BROADER TERM DESCRIBING THE SUBJECT MATTER IN THE SEARCH

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EXAMPLES: PRACTICAL IN CLASS

YOU ARE LOOKING FOR INFORMATION BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GO TO SPAIN ON HOLIDAY, BUT YOU CAN ONLY READ ENGLISH.

YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE INFORMATION ON THE MICROSOFT WINDOWS 8 OPERATING SYSTEM BUT YOU ONLY WANT INFORMATION FROM THE MICROSOFT WEBSITE ITSELF.

YOU ARE A CLASSIC CAR ENTHUSIAST AND ARE LOOKING TO BUY A BORGWARD ISABELLA CARE MANUFACTURED BETWEEN 1950 & 1954 ONLY WITHIN THE USA AND YOU WANT INFORMATION WITHIN THE PAST MONTH.

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2 – MINUTE MADNESS

IN GROUPS OF 2:

PREPARE A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION ON ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

ANY SEARCH ENGINE OF YOUR CHOICE
ANY DATABASE THE LIBRARY SUBSCRIBES TO
ANY JOURNAL WITHIN THE DATABASE

DETAILING THE:

CONTENT

SCOPE

APPLICABLE SEARCH STRATEGIES