Information Search Strategy for Academic Research

A strategy to search for information for academic research.

1. Samsul Farid Samsuddin , PhD Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Computer Science & Information Technology University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA [email protected] INFORMATION SEARCH STRATEGY

2. SCOPUS BASIC SEARCH STRATEGY IN 7 STEPS OUTLINE OBJECTIVE 2

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4. BASIC SEARCH STRATEGY IN 7 STEPS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 4

5. Be personally interest Be familiarize with the topic Allow to locate a variety of information sources within the time limits of your project 5 CHOOSE A GREAT TOPIC

6. EXAMPLES OF THE TITLE A study of communication in gender and culture 6

7. Purpose? Concept? Objective? Research Question? WHAT? Why the research conducted? Why the research is important? WHY? Future scholar? Reviewer ? Examiner? Supervisor? WHO? 1 st / 2 nd Semester? Date start? Date end? WHEN? Sources? Databases? Research location? WHERE? Research methodology? Full text? Presentation? HOW? 1. ANALYSE YOUR TOPIC 2. FIND DEFINITION AND KEYWORDS 3. LIST SYNONYMS AND RELATED TERMS 4. USE APPROPRIATE SEARCH TECHNIQUES 5. FIND INFORMATION USING A RELEVANT SEARCH TOOLS 6. EVALUATE INFORMATION 7. CITING SOURCES 7 Purpose? Concept? Objective? Research Question? WHAT?

8. identify some keywords from definition , brainstorming, previous reading, colleagues, and experts to enhance your Keyword searching Keywords Keywords are significant words (usually nouns or noun phrases) which can be used as search terms in online catalogues or databases. They can appear in the title, abstract, keywords or text of records (content). A keyword search tend to search the word that we need within the sources (documents/ articles). 1. ANALYSE YOUR TOPIC 2. FIND DEFINITION AND KEYWORDS 3. LIST SYNONYMS AND RELATED TERMS 4. USE APPROPRIATE SEARCH TECHNIQUES 5. FIND INFORMATION USING A RELEVANT SEARCH TOOLS 6. EVALUATE INFORMATION 7. CITING SOURCES 8

9. Communication Gender A study of communication in gender and culture Title Keywords IDENTIFYING KEYWORDS , SYNONYMS AND RELATED TERMS Culture 9

10. Determine whether there are synonyms, related terms, or other variations of the keywords that should be included . Encyclopedia provide information that is general, but brief. They provide an excellent place to start research. Thesaurus A book of synonyms, often including related and contrasting words and antonyms . Dictionary A reference book containing an alphabetical list of words, with information given for each word, usually including meaning, pronunciation, and etymology. 1. ANALYSE YOUR TOPIC 2. FIND DEFINITION AND KEYWORDS 3. LIST SYNONYMS AND RELATED TERMS 4. USE APPROPRIATE SEARCH TECHNIQUES 5. FIND INFORMATION USING A RELEVANT SEARCH TOOLS 6. EVALUATE INFORMATION 7. CITING SOURCES 10

11. Communication Gender A study of communication in gender and culture Title Keywords Communication conversation, contact, correspondence Gender sex Culture civilization, ethnic, heritage Synonyms/ Related Terms Culture IDENTIFYING KEYWORDS/ CONCEPTS , SYNONYMS AND RELATED TERMS 11

12. IDENTIFYING KEYWORDS/ CONCEPTS , SYNONYMS AND RELATED TERMS 12

13. Determine which search features/ technique may apply, including : Boolean Operator Phrase Searching Truncation Wildcard 1. ANALYSE YOUR TOPIC 2. FIND DEFINITION AND KEYWORDS 3. LIST SYNONYMS AND RELATED TERMS 4. USE APPROPRIATE SEARCH TECHNIQUES 5. FIND INFORMATION USING A RELEVANT SEARCH TOOLS 6. EVALUATE INFORMATION 7. CITING SOURCES 13

14. (I) BOOLEAN OPERATORS Boolean operators are logical search operators that allow you to narrow or broaden search . AND NOT Gender Communication Sex Gender Lifestyle Civilization Narrows a search: Each result contains all search terms Broadens a search: Each result contains at least one search term Narrows a search: Results do not contain the specified terms OR A B A B A B 14

15. (II) PHRASE SEARCHING Exact matches on words within a phrase search (with double quotes) get a higher relevancy boost over the same words in non-phrase searches (without double quotes). Example: “communication behavior” “education learning” “performance analysis” 15

16. (III ) TRUNCATION Truncation is a searching technique used in databases in which a word ending is replaced by a symbol. Frequently used truncation symbols include the asterisk (*), a question mark (?) or a dollar sign ($). Truncation enables different forms of a word to searched for simultaneously, and will increase the number of search results found. Examples: gene$ will search for results containing; gene, genes, genetic. technolog * will search for results containing; technology, technologies, technological IMPORTANT! Must be careful - you might get valid/ invalid results Different databases use different truncation symbols so it is important to check the database 'Help' information or 'Search Tips' for details about which symbol to use. Truncation: place a symbol at the end of the word 16

17. (IV) WILDCARD Wildcards are symbols used in database search to represent a letter or letters in a word. Find variation of spelling (singular/ plural) Find variation of language spelling (American/ British) Frequently used wildcard symbols include the question mark (?) , the pound/hatch symbol (#) or the asterisk (*). Examples: Analy *e will search for results containing the words; analyze , analyse ( s,z ) Wom?n will search for results containing; women, woman (e, a) Different databases use different truncation symbols so it is important to check the database 'Help' information or 'Search Tips' for details about which symbol to use. Wildcards: place a symbol within a word 17

18. Searching tools & information sources @ your library 1. ANALYSE YOUR TOPIC 2. FIND DEFINITION AND KEYWORDS 3. LIST SYNONYMS AND RELATED TERMS 4. USE APPROPRIATE SEARCH TECHNIQUES 5. FIND INFORMATION USING A RELEVANT SEARCH TOOLS 6. EVALUATE INFORMATION 7. CITING SOURCES Library Website WebOPAC Scopus Online Databases E-Thesis 18 MALCat MyTO MyCite Google Scholar Open Access Thesis & Dissertation

19. N0 DATABASE PUBLISHER SUBJECT Subscription Fees MULTIDISCIPLINARY 1 Science Direct Elsevier Multidisciplinary ? 2 Wiley Online Library Wiley Agricultural and Animal Sciences, Business, Economics, Finance, Accounting, Mathematics and Statistics, Engineering, Computing and Technology, Health Sciences, Humanities, Law, Life and Physical Sciences, Medicine, Social and Behavioral Sciences, The Arts ? 3 SpringerLink Springer Life Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, Computer Science, Mathematics, Medicine, Physics & Astronomy, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Law, and Economics ? 4 Cambridge University Press - Cambridge Journals Online (CJO) Cambridge Multidisciplinary ? 5 ProQuest Central Proquest Multidisciplinary ?

20. 6 Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group Multidisciplinary ? ENGINEERING 7 IEEE Xplore IEL / United Technology Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Electronics Published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) ? MANAGEMENT / BUSINESS / ACCOUNTANCY 8 Emerald Management Plus Emerald Covers the Major Management Disciplines Including, Marketing, HR and Organizational Development, Library & Information Management, Quality and Operations Management ? 9 Datastream Thomson Financial Finance, Statistics ?

21. e.g. CHOOSE THE RELEVANT SEARCH TOOLS 21

22. The aim of searching is to get relevant and accurate results . Look at the results of your search and ask yourself: 1. ANALYSE YOUR TOPIC 2. FIND DEFINITION AND KEYWORDS 3. LIST SYNONYMS AND RELATED TERMS 4. USE APPROPRIATE SEARCH TECHNIQUES 5. FIND INFORMATION USING A RELEVANT SEARCH TOOLS 6. EVALUATE INFORMATION 7. CITING SOURCES 22

23. A citation is a reference to a source published or unpublished. A bibliographic citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item. Citation style: APA style MLA style Vancouver system The Chicago Manual of Style and etc. 1. ANALYSE YOUR TOPIC 2. FIND DEFINITION AND KEYWORDS 3. LIST SYNONYMS AND RELATED TERMS 4. USE APPROPRIATE SEARCH TECHNIQUES 5. FIND INFORMATION USING A RELEVANT SEARCH TOOLS 6. EVALUATE INFORMATION 7. CITING SOURCES 23

24. WHY CITED OF THE WORK Acknowledge the author Acknowledge the source of direct quotations Avoid plagiarism & Respect the Intellectual property and Copyright issues Your ideas will be supported with fact To acknowledge the source of paraphrased information that the reader may question or may want to pursue further 24

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26. 26 Samsul Farid Samsuddin , PhD Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Computer Science & Information Technology University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA [email protected]