Search techniques in library research lecture

Presentation on basic and advanced search techniques, including Boolean operators and filters.

1. Search Techniques in Library Research

2. Objectives Key Points: Understand the importance of effective search techniques. Learn about Boolean operators and how they enhance searches Learn how to access academic materials (books, articles, databases).

3. Introduction to Search Techniques Why Search Techniques Matter: Save time and effort. Access credible and relevant sources. Improve the quality of research.

4. What Are Boolean Operators? Boolean operators are simple words (AND, OR, NOT) that allow you to combine or exclude keywords in a search. They refine and focus your search results. Combine multiple search terms.

5. Boolean Operator: AND Use "AND" to narrow down your search. Combines terms to find sources that contain both (or all) of the keywords. Example: college AND student AND test AND anxiety Example: “college student” AND “test anxiety”

6. Boolean Operator: OR Use "OR" to broaden your search. It retrieves results containing any of the terms it connects. Example: Searching for "teenagers OR adolescents" will return results with either

7. Boolean Operator: NOT Use "NOT" to exclude terms from your search. It eliminates results that contain the unwanted term. Example: Searching for "genetics NOT cancer" will exclude articles that talk about cancer.

8. Combining Boolean Operators Combine AND, OR, and NOT to create complex searches. Use parentheses to group terms for better accuracy. Example: (climate change AND agriculture) OR (global warming AND crops) ethics AND (cloning OR bioengineering )

9. Basic Search Techniques Start with a broad keyword search. Use natural language to find general results. Use quotation marks to search for exact phrases. Example: Searching for "climate change" (with quotes) will only return results with that exact phrase.

10. Truncation and Wildcards Truncation uses an asterisk (*) to search for multiple word endings. Example: "educat*" will return results for education, educator, educating, etc. Wildcards use symbols like (?) to replace a letter and find variations of a word. Example: "wom?n" finds both "woman" and "women".

11. Advanced Search: Filters and Operators Filter by publication date, resource type (articles, books), subject area, peer-reviewed content, and more.. Field-Specific Searches and Filters Title, author, subject. Date range, peer-reviewed status. Example: “Title: climate change AND Date: last 5 years”.

12. Subject-Specific Databases Some databases specialize in specific subjects, like JSTOR (humanities), PubMed (medicine), or IEEE Xplore (engineering). Using subject-specific databases can yield more relevant and authoritative results.

13. Citation Chaining Follow the references or works cited section of an article to find additional, related sources. Databases allow you to see how often a source has been cited by other researchers. Example Databases: Google Scholar Web of Science Citation index /Preprint Citation Index

14. Accessing Books and Articles Library Catalog: Search for books, articles, and more. Access digital and physical materials.

15. Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Interlibrary Loan (ILL) allows you to request materials not available at your library. ILL is great for obtaining books or articles that your library doesn’t have access ILL Contact: Linda Forsythe [email protected] [phone]

16. Open Access Resources Open Access (OA): Free scholarly resources. Examples: Google Scholar PubMed LOUIS OER Commons Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)

17. Summary of Search Techniques Boolean operators for precision. Keywords and advanced search. Accessing resources effectively via library catalog, ILL, and Open Access resources.

18. Assignments Complete quiz: Searching for Information View Videos and Tutorials