How to Research Successfully

What you need to know before you go to college.

• Question :

What is the difference between free web search tools and subscription databases?

– Internet:

• Good for current events, popular culture, today’s news, quick facts, trivia, self-published writing.

• Harder to find: scholarly/obscure subjects, older news, archives, in-depth analysis and unbiased analysis.

Free Web Tools

• Search Engines: Google, Ask, Yahoo

– Use computer programs to search the web.

• Metasearch Engines: Clusty, Ixquick

– Searches other search engine results and then compiles the results.

• Subject Directories: www.lii.org

– Websites selected by and organized by people.

Google: Search Engine

Clusty: Metasearch Engine

Lii.org: Subject Directory

How to choose the right search engine

• Choosing the Best Search Tool:

– http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html

• Search Engine Watch: a website that provides news and information about search engines

– www.searchenginewatch.com

Databases• An on-line resource that the library subscribes

to that has articles and information from print sources such as magazines, newspapers, journals, and reference books.

Databases

• There are different types of databases:– Article Databases

• Search through newspapers, magazines & journals.

– Reference Databases• Reference information (facts, statistics, background

information) from many different print sources.

– A database is NOT an “internet” source• Although accessed from the internet, the articles are

reprinted from print sources.

– Must log-on to access

How to choose a Database

Databases listed in a subject directory.

Databases searchable by subject type and resource type.

Should you do a Simple or Advanced Search?

Google Simple Screen

Google Advanced Screen

Narrow results by setting limits.

Choices within Google• Google Scholar

– Searches scholarly literature.

• Google Book Search– Searches the full text of books scanned by Google.

• Google Images• Timeline

– Choose Show Options from search results page• Results displayed in a timeline format.

• Wonder Wheel– Choose Show Options from search results page

• Results depicted in a graphical representation of related search terms.

Database Simple Screen

Database Advanced Screen

Narrow results by limiting your request.

What is the difference between keyword and subject search?

Keyword Search

• More broad and flexible.

• Searches entire record for search word(s).

– Think about your topic.

– Choose the MOST important words for you topic.

• Be succinct.

• What is most pertinent to your topic?

– Decide on word(s) that express the most important concepts.

Subject Search

• Standardized words or phrases assigned to books, articles or other materials.

– Describes and groups materials that are similar in subject matter.

• Start with a broad topic and you will be guided to more specific results.

– Subcategories within a selected subject.

Subject Search• Good to use when you have a topic but are

stopped with your research.

Offers alternatives to find more information on different aspects of your topic.

Some Databases have Topic Trees

Enter your topic in the subject search mode.

Example: Type in World War I

Your results will be grouped into categories.

Databases offer related subjects to continue your search.

Some search engines also have subject headings

Full Text and Peer Reviewed

Selecting “peer-reviewed publications” will give you more scholarly results.

Peer-reviewed articles are reviewed by a panel of subject experts before they are approved for publication.

Selecting “documents with full text” limits your results to documents that have the complete text.

Boolean Operators

• Limit your results by using OR, AND or NOT

• The Boolean Machine

– http://www.kathyschrock.net/rbs3k/boolean/

Boolean Operators in Databases

STOP Words

• In order to save space and speed searches, search engines ignore common words such as:

– the, in, a ,to, you, what, his, her, be, who, on, an, from, with, it.

• By using STOP words you slow down your search without improving your results.

Google Search Basics

• AND

– Google assumes an “AND” between words.

• NOT

– Use a minus sign ( - ) immediately before a word that you do NOT want webpages for:

• The minus sign should appear immediately before the word and should be preceded with a space.

– ex.: -endangered birds

– Will only bring results for birds, not endangered birds.

Google Search Techniques

• OR

– To find pages that include either of two search terms, add OR in uppercase letters between the terms.

• Ex. Vacation london OR paris

• Define:

– To get a definition from many sources, type Define followed by a colon.

• Ex. Define: vacation

Google Search Techniques

• Site:

– Google will search within a specific website.

• Ex: iraq site:nytimes.com

• Ex: irag site:.gov

Phrase Search

• By putting quotes around a set of words, you are telling the search engine or database to only look for those EXACT words in that EXACT order.

– Ex: “George H. W. Bush”

– Ex: “vitamin D”

– Ex: “Global Warming”

Google Wildcard• *

– Use the asterisk as a placeholder for an unknown term.

– Works only on whole words and not parts of words.

• Ex. : Google *– Gives you all Google products (Google Earth, Google Maps,etc)

• Ex.: Obama voted * on the * bill

Database Wildcard

• *

– Use the asterisk for various forms of a word:

Ex.: Child*

results will include child, children

Ex.: Teen*

results will include teen, teens, teenager

What makes a good Query

• Do not write a question.

• Think about your topic.

– What are the main concepts?

– Example Topic:

• Are pregnancy rates among teenage girls in Canada rising?

– Main concepts: pregnancy, pregnant, baby, babies, teenage, adolescent(s) youth, high school, Canadian, north american.

– Choose keywords from the main concept to search your topic.Ex. Pregnancy AND high school AND Canadian