WR95 Instructional Session
How do you look for sources?
Where do you start searching?
What type of sources are you finding (journals, newspaper, advertisements, etc.)? How do you determine what you'll use and what you'll ignore?
How do you evaluate information? How do you define "scholarly"?
What type of sources are you finding (journals, newspaper, advertisements, etc.)? How do you determine what you'll use and what you'll ignore?
How do you evaluate information? How do you define "scholarly"?
How do we search in library databases? Is it different than how I would search Google?
Well that depends on how you search Google! But generally, yes, Google is a different kind of tool than a database, which means you search it differently. Do you search Google the same way you search something like Netflix or Hulu? Probably not and that's because Netflix and Hulu are both databases and Google is not!
When you search in a database you want to search only the most important words--I call it Hulkspeak, but you can call it whatever you want! If I type in "I want to watch cooking shows" into Hulu, I get a bunch of stuff--but none of it is relevant to what I want to watch!
When you search in a database you want to search only the most important words--I call it Hulkspeak, but you can call it whatever you want! If I type in "I want to watch cooking shows" into Hulu, I get a bunch of stuff--but none of it is relevant to what I want to watch!
But if I just type in the most important word, "cooking," I get stuff that's a lot more relevant to what I want to watch!
What does that look like in a library database? Well for starters, I want to limit how many words I'm using and make sure I'm only using the most important words to my topic. Are words like "the," "of," "for," "in," etc. important to my topic? Probably not, which means I leave those words out (*ahem*like the Hulk!)
Typically, I'm going to avoid using more than five words in one search (unless I really know what my topic is). But here's another tricky question, should I use words like "impact," "effect," "pro," "con," "negative," "positive"? Well, ask yourself, is effect important to your topic, or would a word that describes the effect be more important? For example, if you want to write about the effect access to dental hygiene has on children, is Dental Hygiene Effect on Children a better keyword search than Dental Hygiene Children Chronic Illness? Or Dental Hygiene Children Tooth Decay? Or Dental Hygiene Children Health Insurance?
When combining these words in a library database we use something really fancy called Boolean operators--AND, OR, NOT.
Limit your results using AND, expand your results using OR, eliminate unnecessary results using NOT
Protip: make sure to use all caps when using Boolean operators.
example: Dental Hygiene AND Children AND Chronic Illness
example: Dental Hygiene AND Children AND Tooth Decay
Can you combine your keywords with Boolean?
What would this search do: Dental Hygiene AND Children AND (Chronic Illness OR Tooth Decay OR Health Insurance)
Typically, I'm going to avoid using more than five words in one search (unless I really know what my topic is). But here's another tricky question, should I use words like "impact," "effect," "pro," "con," "negative," "positive"? Well, ask yourself, is effect important to your topic, or would a word that describes the effect be more important? For example, if you want to write about the effect access to dental hygiene has on children, is Dental Hygiene Effect on Children a better keyword search than Dental Hygiene Children Chronic Illness? Or Dental Hygiene Children Tooth Decay? Or Dental Hygiene Children Health Insurance?
When combining these words in a library database we use something really fancy called Boolean operators--AND, OR, NOT.
Limit your results using AND, expand your results using OR, eliminate unnecessary results using NOT
Protip: make sure to use all caps when using Boolean operators.
example: Dental Hygiene AND Children AND Chronic Illness
example: Dental Hygiene AND Children AND Tooth Decay
Can you combine your keywords with Boolean?
What would this search do: Dental Hygiene AND Children AND (Chronic Illness OR Tooth Decay OR Health Insurance)
Once you have your keywords, you are now working with a results page. Sometimes you get too many results, or results that aren't relevant to your search. If you did a search in Amazon, to the left below, to find a phone cover, you might start by typing in phone cover. From you results, you might then filter your results to only show phone covers for a certain brand, or in a certain price range or color. This allows you to take your results from a lot to a more relevant little. Same principle in library databases. This may look different depending on where you search, but you will always have filter options by date, source type, language, etc.
I'm ready to start searching! Where do I look?
There's not one search bar to search everything the library has to offer. That is designed to be helpful and keep your search results relevant and manageable. For instance, if you were looking for an article that appeared in the New York Times, you could Google it and find it somewhere in the results among other, non-New York Times sources, or you could go directly to the New York Times website and filter out that other stuff. That's what the library does. Chances are good if you're looking for articles, you don't want books in your results list and vice versa. So we separate them out, meaning you have to select the tool you want to use before you start searching. Where do you find tools on the library website?
Librarian recommended sources for your WR95 Assignment:
- Academic Search Premier (from homepage search bar or Articles & More)
- MasterFILE Premier (from Articles & More)
- CQ Researcher (from Articles & More)
- Opposing Viewpoints in Context (from Articles & More)
- Points of View Reference Center (from Articles & More)
- Explore the Resources by Subject page by clicking on a subject related to your topic
"Fun" tools to use in library databases!
If this wasn't fun enough, the library databases also offer you helpful tools! They look different and might be in different locations on the page, but once you find a result you want and click on it, keep an eye out for tools like these:
Too much? Ask for help!
I know that there's a lot of information here, and you might still have questions, even after this session. That's what librarians are for! You can always contact me, but there are also several other options for you to contact any Barber Library librarian.
From the Help page on the library's website, you'll find ways to connect with someone 24/7--we can help you come up with keywords, cite your sources, choose databases, and with your general library needs!
From the Help page on the library's website, you'll find ways to connect with someone 24/7--we can help you come up with keywords, cite your sources, choose databases, and with your general library needs!