search design strategies

8/2/2019 Search Design Strategies

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Information

Literacy andLibrary

Instruction

JAMES E. SHEPARD MEMORIAL LIBRARY


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Search Strategy and Database DesignERIC and PsycINFO Search Design by Discipline


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What is a database?Definition: A large, regularly updated file of digitized file of digitized information

(bibliographic records, abstracts, full-text documents, directory entries, images,

statistics, etc.) related to a specific subject or field, consisting of records of uniform

format organized for ease and speed of search and retrieval and managed with the

aid of database management system (DBMS) software. (http://www.abc-

clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_odlis_d.asps ) Copyright 2004-2010 by Joan M. Reitz,Retrieved 02.08.2012.
http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_odlis_d.aspshttp://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_odlis_d.aspshttp://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_odlis_d.aspshttp://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_odlis_d.aspshttp://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_odlis_d.aspshttp://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_odlis_d.aspshttp://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_odlis_d.asps


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Types of Databases

Databases can be organized by the scope of the information they contain. Being aware of what this scope is

can be helpful in selecting a database to begin your information search.

General interest databases include information from several different subject areas and disciplines.

Discipline-specific databases include information for several related subject areas.

Subject-specific databases focus on providing information for one particular subject.

The James E. Shepard Library has databases listed alphabetically by title, by subject, and by full-text for your

assistance.
http://web.nccu.edu/shepardlibrary/tools/databases/db_alphabetical.htmlhttp://web.nccu.edu/shepardlibrary/tools/databases/db_subject.htmlhttp://web.nccu.edu/shepardlibrary/tools/databases/db_fulltext.htmlhttp://web.nccu.edu/shepardlibrary/tools/databases/db_fulltext.htmlhttp://web.nccu.edu/shepardlibrary/tools/databases/db_fulltext.htmlhttp://web.nccu.edu/shepardlibrary/tools/databases/db_fulltext.htmlhttp://web.nccu.edu/shepardlibrary/tools/databases/db_subject.htmlhttp://web.nccu.edu/shepardlibrary/tools/databases/db_alphabetical.html


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General Interest Databases

General interest databases are a great place to begin research or for a general topic search to see whats out

there. These databases contain the broadest range of materials and include many different subjects anddisciplines. Examples of general interest databases include:

Academic Search Complete (EBSCO) Identifies magazine and journals articles in most subject areas

including social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, medical sciences, and

ethnic studies.

Academic OneFile (Gale) This multi-disciplinary database provides access to over 3000 journals, with

links to full text for over half of the journals.

LexisNexis Academic (Lexis-Nexis) Identifies articles from journals, newspapers and reference books.


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Discipline-specific databases

Discipline-based databases are more focused then general interest databases. These databases include

materials in several related subject areas. Materials are usually only from professional/trade publications and

scholarly/academic journals. If you are having trouble finding information on your topic in general interest

databases, try a discipline-based database.

Ethnic NewsWatch Identifies full-text access for 200 newspapers and journals of the ethnic, minority

and native press.

PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) Contains information sources for government, politicalscience, and related topics.

SocINDEX (EBSCO) Identifies articles in all areas of sociology including anthropology, criminology,

ethnic & racial studies, politics, religion, rural sociology, social psychology, and urban studies.

Sport Discus Scholarly and popular information on all aspects of sports, exercise, training, etc.


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Subject-specific databases

If you are doing in-depth research on a topic, you will want to use subject-specific databases. These

databases usually only contain materials from professional/trade publications and scholarly/academic

journals.

Business Source Complete This business resource exceeds all other databases available in terms of its

premium content of peer-reviewed, business related journals.

CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature - EBSCO) Authoritative coverage of

the literature related to nursing and allied health. Historical Abstracts Scholarly articles on the history of the world from 1450 present.

PsycINFO Identifies articles, books and dissertations in psychology and related subjects.


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Basic Searching and/or Smart Text Searching

Basic Search

The Basic Search Screen lets you create a search with limiters, expanders, and Boolean operators. To create a Basic

Search:

Enter your search terms in the Find field on the Basic Search screen.

Click the Search Options link, if you would like to use any of the optional Limiters or Expanders. To close the Search

Options, click the link again.

Select a specific search mode, such as "Find all of my search terms," or "SmartText Searching."

Apply Limiters such as Full Text or Publication type; or use search options that expand your search, such as "Apply

related words."

Click the Search button. The Result List displays.


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Cont.What is SmartText searching?

EBSCOhostoffers SmartText Searching a natural language search

strategy that allows you to enter as much text for their search as you

want a phrase, a sentence, paragraph, or even whole pages.

How SmartText Searching Works:

SmartText Search takes the chunk of text entered into the search box

and first runs it through a sophisticated summarizer, pulling out all the

main words/phrases in the chunk of text.

SmartText Search takes all of those main words/phrases and queries

them against the database, getting back a sorted list of the

words/phrase that are most relevant as compared to that database's

content.

Based on this result, a relevancy weight gets assigned to each

word/phrase.

A search string is then built OR'ing the terms and their weights

together, and a search is conducted against the database.

A relevant Result List is returned.


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Search Strategy, Combining Terms and Limiting Featuresof a Database

Selecting Search Terms Before selecting an appropriate database the research topic you must first

decide on a topic and the topic or research term must be broken down into parts by identifying the main

keywords or concepts. Example of a topic: How does self-esteem relates to the academic achievement of

freshmen? This topic can be broken down into three distinct concepts.


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Controlled Vocabularies

Many specializeddatabases have theirown set of subjectheadings which reflectthe matter of thediscipline.

Thesaurus of ERICDescriptors


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Controlled Vocabulary

Thesaurus ofPsycInfo Descriptors


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Controlled Vocabulary

Databases with controlled subject vocabularies searchable through a thesaurus help take the guesswork out

of selecting the appropriate subject headings. Most online thesaurus displays provide information about

when the term was first introduced, provide a definition, and list related, broader, and narrower terms that

may also be selected. However, you must realize when you select descriptors through the thesaurus the

search will be limited to the descriptor field of the record rather that searched throughout. It will not search

the title field or the abstract or the full-text.

Academic SearchComplete subjectterms


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Specialized fields

Many databases have specialized fields which are relevant to the subject covered or discipline. You should

become familiar with the particular fields provided in the database(s) you use. ERICassigns a grade level(s)

such as primary education and a document type such as research reports, guides and conference

proceedings to each of them in the Advance Search Mode. PsychInfo has such as Age Group, Classification

Codes, Population Group, Methodology, etc. Often searching in a particular field can narrow the number of

hits significantly and may prove valuable in a specific field of hits significantly and may prove valuable in a in

fine-tuning results to your needs. Be careful however what you are eliminating for you may eliminate

something important to your research.

Special Limiters Apply limiters specific to a database. If you select a special limiter, it is applied only

to the database under which it appears.


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Visual Search

LEARNING STYLES - Visual Search...

Is seamlessly integrated with the popular EBSCOhostuser interfacesLets users choose between a block or columnar style of results display

Facilitates user understanding of large data sets in a single view

Complements traditional Basic and Advanced Search options

Provides users with the flexibility of Date or Relevance sorting capability

Allows results to be grouped by Subject or Publication name

Simplifies the focusing of results with its Date Range slider


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MyEbsco

Sign in to access your personalized My EBSCOhostaccount

Save preferences

Organize your research with folders

Share your folders with others

View others' folders

Save and retrieve your search history

Create email alerts and/or RSS feeds

Gain access to your saved research remotely

Export to Bibliographic Management Software

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