1. SEARCHING “I Googled it but there is nothing there!!”

2. Databases  A database is a collection of records (related items).  Records are collections of fields (groupings) such as:  Author  Title  Subject Do these fields sound familiar?

3. Can’t we all just get along?  Historically, there is not an agreed-upon “way” to search; however, all databases share two fundamentals:  Search mechanics (Commands that the search software obeys to conduct a search)  Example: Boolean Logic  Search language (The specific words you or your student puts in to request information)  Example: “Mariners not Ichiro”

4. George Boole  George Boole 1815 – 1864  British mathematician who helped establish symbolic logic.

5. Boolean Logic  AND narrows (counterintuitive I know) your search because it is looking for the combination of words in each result: “Politics” will generate more results than “Politics and women,” because the engine is looking for results that have both (and only both) words instead of just one.

6. Boolean Logic  OR broadens your search. It directs the search to look for results that contain either or both (all) of the words you are looking for:  “Mariners or Ichiro or Yankees”

7. Boolean Logic  NOT Narrows your search and excludes. If you want to read about ocean mariners but you keep getting the Seattle baseball team, try “mariners not Seattle” and your search should narrow.

8. Boolean logic  Do all search engines use Boolean logic?  It is safe to say yes, although it may be implied, such as with Google, or you may need to deliberately select that type of search.  Simple Boolean Tutorial Simple Boolean Tutorial

9. Order of Execution & Nesting  Uses parentheses to group search terms into sets, or nests.  Offers more specificity and may narrow your search.  Can be cumbersome and confusing.  (horse* or equine*) and (behavior* or mannerism*)

10. Proximity Operators  Pro: can increase accuracy because they look for words in relation to each other.  Con: not standardized and can be difficult to use. Google example: “Mariners AROUND (4) Seattle”

11. Proximity Operators:  A few search engines which support proximity search via an explicit proximity operator in their query language include Exalead, Yandex, Yahoo!, Altavista and Google:  Google Google  Google supports AROUND(#).  Databases use proximity operators too: ProQuestProQuest

12. Phrase searching  Pro: Simple! Just put your phrase in double quotation marks!  Con: Can be very limiting. (It is basically a proximity search looking for all words right next to each other.)  Pro: Can be very limiting.  Example: “Mariners trade Ichiro to Yankees”

13. Truncation*  Truncate means to shorten; therefore, you are asking your engine to look for the stem, or shortened version of your word IN ADDITION to the stem with any endings (ed, ing, es, al,).  Retrieve* will look for retrieve, retrieved, retrieving, retrieves, retrieval, etc.  The OED uses left-handed truncation so you can search for word endings (look for words ending in “*phobia” for example).

14. Wildcards Our Friend Google  Specialized form of truncation- probably not used in schools frequently, but good to know.  Not standardized, so check the help menu for your database.

15. Set logic (Don’t worry- it’s NOT math!!)  Pro: Set logic is essentially a way to manage nesting searches without worrying about the order of your “nests.”  Con: Your database needs to be user friendly- most are but some aren’t! How does it work? 1. The database saves each search as a “set.” 2. When you go to your search history, you can combine them. It’s that easy!!

16. Set Logic  Go to a database you have been using, such as EBSCO, and look at your history.  EBSCO EBSCO  Ok- Now that we know how to search, let’s move on to what to search for!!!  PRACTICE!!!!!!

17. Search Language  Search language is the “what” of searching:  “Wolves”  “Global warming”  “Glow worms”  *Keyword is also a type of search, as it is a field, like subject, author, title…  Knowing how to help students choose good keywords is vital to effective searches.

18. Good keywords  Words that have many synonyms are not as useful. Instead, use more specific words and Boolean operators. So, instead of “impact of air pollution on health,” simply search for “air pollution AND health” and the operator will facilitate that relationship.

19. NOUNS ROCK THE SEARCH!  Although not a hard and fast rule, unless they are quite specific, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs do not make ideal search terms- they are generally too broad, or they have too many synonyms so the search will not be optimal.  So, nouns with Boolean operators are great places to start: Salt AND high blood pressure AND diet  Not, “effects of diet high in salt on blood pressure”

20. Controlled Vocabulary  This is exactly what it sounds like- a specific set of controlled vocabulary, such as subject heading descriptors.  The Library of Congress and the Dewey system use a controlled vocabulary.  Finding these is key to an optimal search.

21. Controlled Vocabulary  When you use a database, as opposed to a larger web engine such as Google, you are dealing with a more organized, more specifically catalogued collection. You can usually find the descriptors used by the database if you poke around.  Let’s look againProQuestProQuest

22. Controlled Vocabulary  Descriptors are helpful because they allow you to search by subject headings instead of keyword. While there is nothing inherently wrong with a keyword search, a subject search will be more effective because every result will be relevant.  And of course, there is always the educated guess if you can “think like a librarian.”

23. Keyword vs. Descriptor (subject)  Keywords may not get the results you want. Let’s use ERIC to examine more closely the difference between keywords and subject or descriptors:  ERIC ERIC

24. Natural Language  This is the Flower Power movement of search language-don’t shave or wear deodorant, keep that special little patch of garden out behind the shed and just TYPE WHAT YOU FEEL MAN! Dude! We SO just searched that database, man. I am totally stoked!

25. Federated or Meta searching  Allows a user to search all databases and catalog from one search box- pretty slick.  Requires software to implement in your library.  May simply “muddy the picture” for kids.  May not work with all with vendors.  Libraryfind Libraryfind

26. Remember…  “Searching electronic resources is a balancing act between retrieval and relevance- a balancing act that students and teachers in today’s world need to understand well”(Lanning 77).

27. Works Cited  Boole, George. The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. JOMC 50/EIS Research Initiative. Web. 23 July, 2012  Lanning, Scott and John Bryner. Essential Reference Services for Today’s School Media Specialists. 2nd Ed. Santa Barbara, CA.: Libraries Unlimited, 2010. Print.