WELCOME TO THE LIBRARY

• P L E A S E F I N D Y O U R F O L D E R & T A K E A S E A T

• L O G O N T O Y O U R C O M P U T E R A N D G O T O T H E L I B R A R Y W E B S I T E

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED SO FAR?• How is Research different from an online Search?

– Research is academic, requires valid sources, you need multiple sources, different types of sources, & you must cite your sources. Research takes more time and delves more deeply into a topic

– An online search is for general information and is usually quick• What are the first steps in research?

– Choose a topic– Brainstorm what you know– Learn more about your topic– Make a list of questions about your topic

• What is a Data Base & how is it different from a website?– An online closed collection of valid reference source

• Where do you go to find good sources?– Universal Search in the Library Catalog (books, eBooks, online sources)– Pioneer Data Base (World Book, EBSCO, GALE etc.)

RULE OF 3A good researcher knows how to find a variety of

sources!• What is the minimum number of sources you should use for a research project?

• What types of sources should you use?

1.1. Book Source2.2. Data Base

Source3.3. Website Source

SEARCH ENGINESGENERAL SEARCH ENGINES

• Google• Bing• Yahoo

*These sites are designed for general online searches and do not filter out non-academic sources. *Top matches are advertisements, paid sources, and Wikipedia

http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=44578

RESEARCH SEARCH ENGINES

• Sweet Search• iSeek• Reference Seeker• Internet Public Library• Finding Dulcinea• Wolfram Alpha• Google Scholar

*These search engines are designed specifically for research and filter out non-academic sites

S E A R C H S T R AT E G Y # 1 : U S E B O O L E A N O P E R AT O R S

ANDOR

NOT

AND NARROWS YOUR SEARCH.

SAT AND CHEATING

Only records with both terms will be found (the purple area).

OR BROADENS YOUR SEARCH.

ACT OR CHEATING

ACT CHEATING

NOT NARROWS YOUR SEARCH. USE NOT WHEN YOU WANT TO EXCLUDE A KEYWORD FROM YOUR

SEARCH.

ACT NOT CHEATING

CHEATINGACT

Minus Symbol (-) ACT -CHEATING

SEARCH STRATEGY #2USE QUOTATION MARKS

Quotation marks are used around phrases. By using quotations marks, you are telling the computer to only bring back pages with the terms you typed in the exact order you typed them.

Example: “health care reform”

instead of health AND care AND reform

SEARCH STRATEGY #3TRUNCATION

Truncation means to chop off. When you truncate you chop off the end of the word, so the computer can search for multiple endings.

For example, your research question includes the keyword education. You can truncate education, so that the computer will find all of the word ending variations.

Educat* will find:

EducationEducate EducatedEducating

SEARCH STRATEGY #4USE THE ADVANCED SEARCH SCREEN

Most search engines have an advanced search screen. This screen offers many options to help you refine your search.

If you use Google for research you should always used the advanced search screen. You can access this screen by clicking on the ‘settings’ option in the lower right hand corner

www.google.com

SEARCH STRATEGY #5BE VERY SPECIFIC

The web is virtually limitless. To pull up the most relevant information when searching the web, you need to use lots of terms related to your research question.

– Try different key words– Narrow down broad search terms

• Tip: Data Bases(like Pioneer) use broad search terms, Search Engine use narrow search terms

SEARCH STRATEGY #6LIMIT YOUR SEARCH TO A SPECIFIC DOMAIN TYPE• Add site:domain to your search.

• Or use the advanced search option and type in the domain.

S U M M I N G U P S E A RC H E N G I N E S• S E A R C H E N G I N E S A R E U S E D T O

F I N D W E B S I T E S• R E S E A R C H S E A R C H E N G I N E S W I L L

F I LT E R O U T N O N - A C A D E M I C S I T E S A N D L I N K YO U T O B E T T E R S O U R C E S

• U S E G O O D S E A R C H S T R AT E G I E S T O H E L P YO U F I N D S O U R C E S

• YO U R R E S E A R C H S H O U L D N O T I N C LU D E A L L W E B S I T E S , M A K E S U R E YO U A L S O U S E B O O K S & D ATA B A S E S