English 1213

Session One: Search Strategies & Database Instruction

Frederic Murray, MLIS

InformationLiteracy

Information Literacy

• It is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

Library Instruction in the Information Age• A single current newspaper contains

more written and visual information than the average person in the 17th Century was likely to come across in their entire lifetime. There are many areas of literacy that all add up to Information Literacy: Cultural, Visual, Media, Network, Computer, Traditional Alphabetic Literacy, and Library Instruction.

Did You Know….

Educational Goals for 21st Century

1. Teach Students to be self-directed & understand how to organize more & more of their own learning.

2. Teach our students the importance of global communication.

3. Teach our students to deal with massive amounts of information.

Library Instruction in the Information Age

• New Search Strategies are required

• Critical evaluation is more important than ever

• Hi-Tech Research

Define: Catalog, Database, Indexes

• A comprehensive list of the books, periodicals, maps, and other materials in a given collection.

• A large, regularly updated file of digitized information related to a specific subject or field.

• An alphabetically arranged list of headings consisting of the personal names, places, and subjects treated in a specific work.

Search Techniques

• Keyword • Basic Boolean

Identifying Keywords

• Identify the significant terms and concepts that describe your topic from your thesis statement or research question.

• These terms will become the key for searching catalogs, indexes, and databases for information about your subject.

Keyword Examples

• Death Penalty

– Lethal injection – Gov. George Ryan – Cruel and unusual

punishment – Amnesty

International – Stanley (Tookie)

Williams

• Government Bailout

– Bear Stearns– Fannie Mae and

Freddie Mac– Housing bill– Savings and loan

crisis– Henry Paulson – Subprime

mortgages

Keyword Phrases

• Single concept, multiple words• Some electronic resources require

keyword phrases be enclosed with punctuation– Quotation marks – SWOSU Catalog – Parenthesis

Boolean

• AND = Narrow

• OR = Expand

• NOT = Exclude

Boolean Operators

• Connect keywords only• Must be placed between keywords• AND

– Narrows your search

• OR– Expands your search with synonymous

terms

• NOT– Excludes words from your search– If used too much, it can work against you!

Class Exercise

• Keyword Building ExerciseTopic: U.S.A. Presidential Elections

• Thesaurus.com

U.S.A. Presidential Elections

State

American

National

Voting History

Choosing

Balloting Record

Politics

Finding

Journals/Magazines/Articles

• In the Library• Online

Citations

Shriver Jr., Donald W. “Bosnia in Fear and Hope .” World Policy Journal; Summer2001, Vol. 18 Issue 2, p43, 11p

Formats: PDF (Portable Document Format) HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

Citations

Shriver Jr., Donald W. “Bosnia in Fear and Hope.”

World Policy Journal;

Summer2001, Vol. 18 Issue 2, p43, 11p

PDF / HTML

Search the Virtual Stacks

Search the Virtual Stacks

Periodicals List Exercise

• Does the library have access to this journal?

• Yes or No?

Databases

• A large, regularly updated file of digitized information related to a specific subject or field.

• This is where we find Journal Articles

• This is where most of your research will take place

Searching in Databases

• Keywords with Boolean • Subject terms from thesaurus• Limiters: date, peer reviewed,

geography, and full text

Article Sources

General Article and subject databases

Article Databases

Exercise

• Academic Search Premier Worksheet

• Topic: Presidential Elections

Questions?

• Contact me:– Frederic Murray

• 744-7113• frederic.murray@swosu.edu

Thanks!