Steps in online
searching Steps in online
searching
a. Can I state my search problem in a clear question?
b. What type of information do I need? (overview, scholarly, news, point of view, documents)
c. How much information do I need? (term paper, essay, speech, definition)
a. Does it cover my subject?
b. Does it contain the formats I need to answer my questions? (newspapers, magazines, primary sources, encyclopedia)
c. Are there abstracts which help you decide if the text will be useful?
d. Does it cover the time period I am interested in?
e. Can I understand the information contained in it? (If you can't understand the abstracts, the fulltext may be even tougher!)
f. Is it fulltext? If not, can I access the materials it indexes through interlibrary loans, other libraries, or fax?
a. What are my major concepts?
b. Are there synonyms, broader or narrower terms, related ideas?
c. How will I link them with Boolean operators (and, or, not)?
d. Should I be concerned about plurals or other forms of words? (Are there truncation or wildcard features?)
e. Are there any proper names (people, places) that would focus my search?
f. Should I adjust my strategy for a fulltext database?
g. Is there a thesaurus or controlled vocabulary?
h. Are some meaningless words in this database? (e.g. company in a business database)
i. Have I spelled everything correctly?
a. Do I have more than one concept to search?
b. Am I browsing for a topic, or looking for a way to narrow a broad topic?
c. Can I spell all the vocabulary correctly?
d. Can I search by field?
a. Are my hits relevant, readable, accessible?
b. Have I used all the strategies on my notesheet?
c. Have I tried different combinations of keywords?
d. Should I use broader or narrower terms?
e. Have I examined the most promising hits for better vocabulary (especially in the subject or descriptor fields)?
f. Did I spell all my search terms correctly?
g. Do I need to ask the advice of the library information specialist?
h. Should I try another database?
i. Is my topic really doable? Should I consider another?
a. How relevant were my hits?
b. Which of the hits are the best? (most relevant, timely, credible, readable, promoting your point of view)
c. Which of my strategies worked best? Should I try them in another database?
d. Are there additional keyword clues in my printout?
e. Did I select the best possible databases?
f. What is my next step?
Note: These steps are not necessarily performed in exact order, but interactively. You will reconsider questions and revise your strategies depending on your search results. You may go back to the same questions several times.
From Power Tools: 100+ Forms and Presentations for Your
School Library Information Program, by Joyce Kasman Valenza.
Chicago: ALA Editions, 1998.
Permission granted to reproduce for nonprofit educational
purposes.
ALA Editions
American Library Association
50 East Huron Street
Chicago, Illinois 60611
(312)280-3244