Planning a search strategy

 A search strategy may be broadly defined as a conscious approach to decision making to solve a problem or achieve an objective.

 What is wanted  What is known about what is wanted  What resources are available  How these resources are constructed and what is known about the structure of these resources.

 Help you to plan how you will look for information.  Allows you to search for information in many different places e.g. databases.  Help you find a larger amount of relevant information.  Clarify your thinking about your topic.  Ensure that you are looking for information appropriate to your task.  Saves your time in a long time.

Step one- make sure you understand the question  Understand fully what is being asked.  The focus of the question  Check the meaning of word, name, place etc.

 Keywords and key phrases indicate what the project or question is really about.  They provide initial search terms for finding information  Using wrong keywords means you will get wrong information  If you do not use keywords means you will not get enough information, or you get the wrong type of information.

 Think of broader terms  Think of narrower terms  Think of synonyms

Truncation and Wildcards  Used to search for multiple forms of the same root/stem word.  For different spelling of words.  Commonly * is used to indicate many character and ? Is used to indicate a single character. E.g. comput* search for compute, computer, computable, computing etc.  A search for organi?ation, would search for both organisation and organization.

Boolean logic  Search terms may be combined using boolean logic, so that the most relevant results are returned.  The Three boolean logic are: OR, AND, NOT. OR  OR boolean command is used to expand retrieval by including synonyms and closely related terms. E.g. Namibia OR Africa

 Any one of the terms are present (more than one term may be present).  fruit OR vegetables

 The AND command is used to narrow search results.  AND - All terms are present. AND is the best way to narrow down your search by limiting your results to only those resources (articles or books) which deal with your chosen words.  Each time another concept is added using AND: returns results that contain all the words you enter. E.g. weed AND marijuana or Sand AND sculpture.

 The NOT command is used to exclude unwanted records from search results.  It is useful for differentiating two unrelated uses of the same keyword. E.g. Namibia NOT Southern Africa.

 NOT - The first term but not the second is present.

 If one database does not deliver the required results, try another.  Use different manipulations of your search phrase.  Use reference material like dictionaries to check your spelling, or to find alternate words to use.  Start broadly, and narrow your searches  When finding a good article, look at the author’s list of references at the end for further clue

Phrase searching  Phrase searching refers to a string of words that must appear next to each other.  Search for an exact phrase.  It is denoted by the use of quotation marks e.g. “Record management” or “information science”

 What sort of information do you need?  What exactly are you looking for? E.g. previous research in the area, a range of viewpoints on your topic, work by a particular author

 Current or up to date information  Comprehensive information  Background information

Recall: refer to number of hits the search retrieve Precision: refers to relevant number of hits that a search retrieve. Because search engines bring up so many words and hits, it is possible to have a lot of hits but very few which are relevant to your query. In case of high recall and low precision, refine your search in such a way that you improve precision.

 Clarify the question  Select the material  Prioritize  Locate the sources  Search the material  Evaluate and repeat if necessary

 To start typing on the computer once the user ask a question, it is extremely confusing to the user.  Make sure you understand the question  Explain what is being searched  If possible, let the user see the screen so they can follow the search

Reference questions are categorized into four groups Directional category These are direct questions question that rarely require more than general geographical knowledge or key location. E.g. where can I find dictionaries? Where is the index or catalogue? Ready reference category These are questions that require only a single usually uncomplicated straight forward answer. The requested information is normally found in standard reference works e.g. encyclopedias, year books, and atlas. These question start with where, when, who, why and what. E.g. who is the president of the USA? Which country is the biggest in the world?

Specific search questions E.g. where can I find information on dinosaurs? Do you have a autobiography of Dr Sam Nujoma? The essential difference between the ready reference and specific search question is that ready reference queries usual can be answered with data normally short answer from reference sources. While specific search answers always take the form of giving the users a document, a list of citations, a book a report an internet site etc. Research question category A research query is usually identified as that coming from an adult specialist who is seeking detailed information to assist in specific work. The request may be from a doctor, lawyer, lecturer or other person who needs data for a decision or additional information about a problem. It is kind of question that require a reference librarian to engage in an reference interview.