effective search strategies

Effective Search Strategies

Why we’re here

• Why you want to do a literature searchwhat do you get from it?

• Learn to set up a search in a way the computer can work with

• Select appropriate resources to search

• Find and use the articles you’ve found

Why do you want to do a search?• Why – affects:

What you are looking for affects:Where you look andWhat question you ask

• Where you search = what are you looking for?Webpages Google, Yahoo, Alta

VistaBooks TrellisJournal articles Research Databases

• Never count on a computer search to get you everything!

A simple sample searchIs laughter the best medicine?

1. Is laughter the best medicine?humor therapeutic

2. (laughter OR humor) AND (medicine OR therapeutic)

3. 55 documentsbrief records displayed 25 at a time

Generating word lists

• Watch for spelling differences – British vs. American spellings, plurals

• List the words that are mandatory, what makes your topic unique

• Avoid words not relevant to your search

• List component parts as well as collective

The computer will only look for what you ask it to

Logical Connectors

• ORcleanup OR dumping

• ANDdumping AND wastes

• NOTtoxic NOT radioactive






OR OR OR






AND AND

Truncation or Wildcards

• Computer* to retrieve

computer or computers orcomputerised or computerized orcomputerisation or computerization . . .

• Cart* (thinking cart or carts) will also get

cartography, cartoons, cartwheel, cartilage, cartesian, . . .

Database choice can be critical

• Chose your database based on where someone is most likely to publish.

• Selection of a good database can reduce the number of strange citations.

http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca

http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/

When the best-planned search goes awry






When the best-planned search goes awry – too many hits

Add another column

Disposal of hazardous wastes in Ontario soils

Disposal hazardous wastes Ontario soil

Cleanup toxic wastes Quebec clay

Dumping industrial wastes Alberta gravel

Recycling Canada

When the best-planned search goes awry

• Try other databases:- Ethics in engineering – Phil Index or Compendex- Office psychology – ABI/Inform or PsycINFO

• Broaden your search by searching by author

• Cited Reference searching

Getting the articles

• The GetIt linkcan often take you to thearticle or journal table of contents

• Trellis tells you if we have the journal or books in print or electronically

• CISTI Source for grads & faculty

• Interlibrary Loan/RACER for whatever remains

Cited Reference Searching

2005

1995

Web of Science

• Covers:arts & humanities 1975 – presentsocial sciences 1956 – presentscience & technology 1900 – present

http://testtube.uwaterloo.ca/Go/index.cfm?resource=20311

What about Google & Google Scholar?

• The searching is different but some of your preparations would be similar.

• You have to decide the quality of the material. You often have to do much more filtering of junk.

• There are gaps in Google Scholar’s coverage. What’s the sorting? Different results on different days!

Review• Determine what you are looking for

- write down the ideal title- what are the most common synonyms?

• Select the database most likely to have what you are looking for.

• Search using the words in your list, combining them with brackets and logical connectors

Review – pt. 2

• Review your results critically- what’s good about the ones you like?- what other words, spellings can be used?- Check the bibliographies and citing references

• Find your articles by searching for the journal title in Trellis or by using GetIt@Waterloo

More Help?

Drop by the Reference Desk Phone the Reference Desk Use the Chat Reference service Contact your liaison librarian

Ask a Librarian

http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/asklib/index.html

effective search strategies

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