3. - Define your information need
- Broaden your search
- Narrow your search
- Evaluate your results
- Make your results work for you
Effective Searching
5. Broaden your search
(1) Alternative terms
a) Synonyms
b) Changes in terminology
(2) Alternative spelling
a) Francophone and American English
spellings
b) Style Guides
(3) Word stems
6. Broaden your search
(1) Alternative terms (Boolean connectors)
a) Synonyms
b) Changes in terminology
(2) Alternative spelling (Wildcards)
a) Francophone and American English
spellings
b) Style Guides
(3) Word stems (Truncation tools)
8. Alternative Terms
Synonyms: Using “OR”
… will return all results which include either the term
inebriation or the term intoxication, as well as all results which
mention both terms.
inebriation intoxication
9. Synonyms: Using “OR”
Many databases assume if don’t include the “OR”
connector, you only want results where ALL of the terms
entered appear.
e.g. sddsfsdsdfsdfsdfsdfsdf
“If you want to search for paghes that may have just one
several words, include OR (capitalised) between the words.
Without the OR, your results would typically show only pages
that match both terms.”
https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/136861?hl=en
Alternative Terms
10. Alternative Terms
Synonyms: Using “OR”
Some databases assume if don’t include the “OR”
connector, you only want results where the terms appear
exactly next to each other, like a phrase.
e.g. dffffffdfffffffffffffffffff
11. Alternative Spellings
Think about Americanised and
Francophone word spellings:
• colour or color
• centre or center
• licence or license
• organised or organized
13. Alternative Spellings
Via Flickr Creative Commons, by Pink Sherbert Photography. Original
available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/70873497@N02/6935006104/
Donut
Doughnut
- 76,855 results in Discover
- 79,894 results in Discover
- Either / Or = 94,447 results in Discover
14. Alternative Spellings
• Wildcards
– organi?ation will find: organisation and
alternative letters organization
– labo?r will find: labor and
missing letters labour
– d?nut will find: donut and
multiple missing letters doughnut
16. • Truncation tools
– Word stems (truncation searching)
– negligen* will find:
“Police were accused of negligence”
Word stems
17. • Truncation tools
– Word stems (truncation searching)
– negligen* will find:
“Police were accused of negligence”
“Police were accused of acting negligently”
Word stems
18. • Truncation tools
– Word stems (truncation searching)
– negligen* will find:
“Police were accused of negligence”
“Police were accused of acting negligently”
“Police were accused of being negligent”
Word stems
19. Broaden your search
• Broadening your search - Summary
– Alternative terms butterfly OR lepidoptera
– Alternative spellings organi?ation
labo?r
– Word stems negligen*
Warning: Terminology and symbols vary,
depending on which database or catalogue you
are using
21. Narrow your search
(1) Focussing your search
Combining your search terms
a) Using the AND connector
b) Proximity connectors
Improving your search accuracy
a) Phrase searching
(2) Filtering your search
22. Combining your search concepts
(a) Using the AND connector
copyright AND photograph
AND
23. Combining your search concepts
(a) Using the AND connector
… will return only those results which include both the
term copyright and the term photograph.
AND
24. Combining your search concepts
(a) Using the AND connector
Some databases will assume an AND between two terms
even if you don’t include it…
e.g. sddsfsdsdfsdfsdfsdfsdf
25. Combining your search concepts
(a) Using the AND connector
Some databases will assume an AND between two terms
even if you don’t include it…
e.g. sddsfsdsdfsdfsdfsdfsdf
… but not all.
26. Combining your search concepts
(a) Using the AND connector
Examples include:
Power Search: Requires use of the
AND connector.
If not included, searches for terms
appearing as a phrase.
Including the AND connector “combines
search terms so that each search result
contains all of the terms. Not including runs a
search against an account default setting. (For
Durham, this is ‘appearing within 5 words of’).
http://support.ebsco.com.ezphost.dur.ac.uk/
help/index.php?help_id=35
27. Combining your search concepts
(a) Using the AND connector
So get into the habit of using it even when not necessary…
1. Avoid mistakes
2. Make cutting & pasting your search between
databases easier.
28. (b) Proximity connectors
truth AND reconciliation
Will return results where both terms appear…
Combining your search concepts
29. (b) Proximity connectors
truth AND reconciliation
Will return results where both terms appear…
Anywhere.
Combining your search concepts
30. (b) Proximity connectors
truth AND reconciliation
Will return results where both terms appear…
Anywhere.
They could appear several pages apart, and be unrelated.
Combining your search concepts
31. (b) Proximity connectors
truth AND reconciliation
To account for this, some databases will allow you to use a
proximity connector instead of AND…
Combining your search concepts
32. (b) Proximity connectors
truth AND reconciliation
To account for this, some databases will allow you to use a
proximity connector instead of AND…
… to only return results where one keyword appears within
# words of another keyword.
Combining your search concepts
36. Narrow your search
Truth within 5 words reconciliation
Truth w/5 reconciliationTruth /5 reconciliation
Truth N5 reconciliationTruth adj5 reconciliation
Warning: How this is used can vary considerably between
databases.
Truth Near5 reconciliation Truth Near/5 reconciliation
37. Improving your search accuracy
(c) Phrase searching
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
41. (a) Excluding terms
“Truth and Reconciliation Commission” NOT “South Africa”
Will return results where the phrase “Truth and Reconciliation
Commission” appears, whilst excluding those results where the
term “South Africa” appears…
Filtering your search
42. (a) Excluding terms
“Truth and Reconciliation Commission” NOT “South Africa”
… but be careful with the NOT connector.
It might exclude results which offer a comparison, or results
where the excluded term appears only in a reference or
footnote, which may still be of interest…
Filtering your search
43. Narrow your search
• Narrowing your search - Summary
– Focussing copyright AND photograph
– Proximity searching negligen* w/5 PwC
– Phrase searching “duty of care”
– Excluding terms property NOT intellectual
Terminology and symbols vary, depending on which
database or catalogue you are using
45. Grouping your search
Shakespeare AND (tragedy OR sonnet)
- will return results about Shakespeare’s tragedies and
sonnets.
Shakespeare AND tragedy OR sonnet
- might return results about Shakespeare’s tragedies,
and also anything about sonnets (including those written
by others).
46. Grouping your search
Shakespeare AND (tragedy OR sonnet)
- will return results about Shakespeare’s tragedies and
sonnets.
(Shakespeare AND tragedy) OR sonnet
- might return results about Shakespeare’s tragedies, and
also anything about sonnets (including those written by
others).
47. Grouping your search
Shakespeare AND (tragedy OR sonnet)
- will return results about Shakespeare’s tragedies and
sonnets.
Shakespeare AND tragedy OR sonnet
- might return results about Shakespeare’s tragedies, and
also anything about sonnets (including written by others).
With brackets: 110,754 results in Discover
Without: 150,795 results in Discover
(679, 017 results if entered in reverse: tragedy OR sonnet AND Shakespeare)
61. Example
(teen* OR youth OR juvenile OR adolescen*)
AND
(crim* OR shoplift* OR “anti-social behavio?r” OR theft)
AND
(“inner city” OR urban OR cities OR London)
62. Example
(teen* OR youth OR juvenile OR adolescen*)
AND
(crim* OR shoplift* OR “anti-social behavio?r” OR theft)
AND
(“inner city” OR urban OR cities OR London)
63. Example
(teen* OR youth OR juvenile OR adolescen*)
AND
(crim* OR shoplift* OR “anti-social behavio?r” OR theft)
AND
(“inner city” OR urban OR cities OR London)
64. Example
(teen* OR youth OR juvenile OR adolescen*)
AND
(crim* OR shoplift* OR “anti-social behavio?r” OR theft)
AND
(“inner city” OR urban OR cities OR London)
65. (teen* OR
youth OR
juvenile OR
adolescen*)
(“inner
city”OR
urban OR
cities OR
London)
(crim* OR
shoplift* OR
“anti-social
behavio?r”
OR theft)
Only this subset
of results
returned, as the
most relevant
based on
search entered.
Example in image: if you get the reference, it is far more likely that the little storm troopers will got lots of information telling them about what droids they are not looking for.
Google will find you stuff… but it may not be the best or most appropriate results.
(Other metaphor – Google is a Golden Retriever: Ever so keen to bring you back the stick you throw. It might not be the stick you thrw or expected to come back, so an enthusiastic puppy just wants to please you and will bring you any old stick it finds anyway)
Google does cope better with typing in a sentence or question than many academic databases, but as professional researchers it is not the best way of searching and you should be trying more appropriate techniques, and many of the databases you may need to, or should be using, will not work very well or at all if you search in this way.
BROADENING YOUR SEARCH
- this is about being comprehensive, rather than focussing to precisely to start with.
- This is about ensuring you don’t inadvertently miss anything.
NARROWING YOUR SEARCH
- once you have ensured your search can be as comprehensive as possible, you then need to make sure you focus it to help filter out the ‘noise’ and to just return the most relevant results.
- This is about ensuring you use your reading time most efficiently.
Example in image: Baseball glove… aimed at helping you avoid anything slipping past your grasp.
(Other metaphore…. Fishing nets. Casting your nets wide so as not to let anything escape unexpectedly)
- Many publications have their own terminology and spelling style guide.
Increasingly, academic are using constructed thesaurus to identify alternative spellings and word stems, and take these into account.
Web of Science and Science Direct, for example, both use wildcards and truncation tools, but for many search terms you will get the same number of results whether you use one spelling or another, or include a wildcard or not (eg organised vs organized). It is still best practice to consider these however, as not all databases do.
Metaphor: This is about you controlling the context in which search results are included, and identifying and excluding those results which are ‘odd one’s out’ – they mention the search terms you have chosen, but they don’t fit in with the overall pattern or topic you are interested in sufficiently enough to warrant your time and effort.
Metaphor: This is about you controlling the context in which search results are included, and identifying and excluding those results which are ‘odd one’s out’ – they mention the search terms you have chosen, but they don’t fit in with the overall pattern or topic you are interested in sufficiently enough to warrant your time and effort.
Metaphor: This is about you controlling the context in which search results are included, and identifying and excluding those results which are ‘odd one’s out’ – they mention the search terms you have chosen, but they don’t fit in with the overall pattern or topic you are interested in sufficiently enough to warrant your time and effort.
Metaphor: This is about you controlling the context in which search results are included, and identifying and excluding those results which are ‘odd one’s out’ – they mention the search terms you have chosen, but they don’t fit in with the overall pattern or topic you are interested in sufficiently enough to warrant your time and effort.
Metaphor: This is about you controlling the context in which search results are included, and identifying and excluding those results which are ‘odd one’s out’ – they mention the search terms you have chosen, but they don’t fit in with the overall pattern or topic you are interested in sufficiently enough to warrant your time and effort.
Metaphor: This is about you controlling the context in which search results are included, and identifying and excluding those results which are ‘odd one’s out’ – they mention the search terms you have chosen, but they don’t fit in with the overall pattern or topic you are interested in sufficiently enough to warrant your time and effort.