english 1213 dr. maxson session 1 searching techniques frederic murray, m.l.i.s
TRANSCRIPT
Library Instruction in the Information Age A single current newspaper contains more
written and visual information than the average person in the 17th Century was likely to come across in their entire lifetime. There are many areas of literacy that all add up to Information Literacy: Cultural, Visual, Media, Network, Computer, Traditional Alphabetic Literacy, and Library Instruction.
Educational Goals for 21st Century
1. Teach Students to be self-directed & understand how to organize more & more of their own learning.
2. Teach our students the importance of global communication.
3. Teach our students to deal with massive amounts of information.
Library Instruction in the Information Age New Search Strategies are required. Critical evaluation is more important than
ever.
Basic research
Almanacs, dictionaries, handbooks, and encyclopedias are useful tools for finding quick facts, statistics, or a broad overview of your topic.
If you don't know much about your topic already, these tools can be a good place to start.
The Research Process
Identify main steps to carry out written research
Recognize the cyclic nature of the research process
Main Steps of Research
1. Topic
2. Develop your search strategy
3. Search
4. Write your paper, speech, presentation, etc.
5. Cite your sources
Identifying Keywords
Identify the significant terms, concepts, and keywords that describe your topic from your thesis statement or research question.
These terms will become the key for searching catalogs, indexes, and databases for information about your subject.
Keyword Phrases
Single concept, multiple words Some electronic resources require keyword
phrases be enclosed with punctuation Quotation marks Parenthesis
Keyword Phrases
Basic phrase Proper names Hyphenated words Slogans,
advertisements Famous quotes Movie titles, song
titles, etc.
(computer disk) “Native American” (x-ray or fine-tune) “kills bugs dead”
(to be or not to be) “Lord of the Rings”
Other Keywords
Identify the synonyms and antonyms to your keywords
Use a thesaurus Use database tools like descriptors and
subjects
Keyword vs. Subject
Natural language Flexible terminology Less accurate Use with Boolean
Native American
Predetermined terminology
Thesaurus More precise
Indians of North America
Exercise: Keyword Building Worksheet
Church-State Separation
College Grade Inflation Evolution and Creationism
Hip-Hop Culture
Television Violence
War Journalism
Subjects
Predetermined terminology Library of Congress
More difficult to use in searches
Very precise
Truncation (Wildcards)
Non-universal symbols used in searching Common symbols: * ? Used with a root word (jump?) Used to replace a vowel or single character
(wom*n)