Skill Set 5: Selecting Search Terms

A. Introduction/review of the "challenges"  of research with specific attention to language:

To construct a search, it is important to know about the tools that are available to help develop search terms and build an effective search strategy. Sometimes language itself can make selecting search terms a challenge.

1. lay vs. professional (heart attack vs myocardial infarction); broad (education) vs. narrow (9th grade american history education in midwestern private schools)

Most of your research will likely involve searching the library's subscription databases. There are several ways to to do this. Controlled vocabulary and keyword searching are the most common.

2. controlled vocabulary (including subject headings) and keywords: what are they and how do they differ?

i. Controlled vocabulary is an established list of preferred words that are used to describe a subject in a database in order to standardize the way in which a subject is categorized in a database or library catalog. For example, if the controlled vocabulary for all works about dogs is "Dogs," then all items about dogs will be assigned the heading "Dogs," including an article called, "All about Canines." (ODLIS -  Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz: http://lu.com/odlis/). A thesaurus is an example of controlled vocabulary. Subject headings are also a type of controlled vocabulary, namely the most specific word or phrase that describes the subject of a work (ODLIS -  Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz: http://lu.com/odlis/). Subject headings are often searchable fields in databases and therefore serve as an access point for finding information in a database or library catalog. Databases often have their own set of subject headings. Most academic library catalogs use the Library of Congress Subject Heading System for their subject headings. A keyword is usually not a controlled vocabulary word, but rather a significant word or phrase found in the title, subject heading, abstract, or text of a record for a work in a database or library catalog (ODLIS -  Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz: http://lu.com/odlis/). Like subject headings, keywords are usually a search feature in databases and serve as access points for finding information in a database or library catalog. One disadvantage of a keywords search is that it does not take into account the meaning of the words used as a search term, so if a keyword has more than one meaning, irrelevant search results may be returned (ODLIS -  Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz: http://lu.com/odlis/).

L.O. flash demonstration showing a subject heading search and a keyword search for a topic, highlighting similarities and differences in results.

L.O. flash demonstration showing a search were irrelevant search results are returned using a keyword that has more than one meaning (ex: a search for elephant and behavior will also return results about elephant seal behavior, in addition to information about the behavior of the large land animals with trunks--in this case a search using the scientific name for the species we are interested in may be more effective).

B. Tools for Developing Search Terms

1. Thesaurus

a. What is a thesaurus?

i. Also know as identifiers or descriptors, thesauri, are research tools in print or electronic format used to find synonyms, related terms and broader or narrower terms.
L.O. screen shot from one of our databases that contains a thesaurus (EBSCO databases).

ii. Online general use thesaurus that are authoritative and freely available include the Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus, Bartleby.com, or dictionary.com (make sure these are all listed on our reference shelf page)

2. Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

a. What is an encyclopedia? What is a dictionary?

i. A dictionary is used to define words, verify spelling, check the usage of a word (Bopp and Smith, 409).

ii. Encyclopedias provide organized, summarized information on a subject, usually written on a lay person's level with references to more detailed sources of information (Bopp and Smith, 433).  For this reason, encyclopedias are an excellent starting point to get background information on  a topic and they often serve as a resource for identifying additional resources about a topic.

b. General Encyclopedias and Dictionaries:

i. reference shelf

ii. Librarians' Internet Index

iii. Merriam-Webster Online

c. Subject Specific

i. electronic resources by subject page

ii. reference shelf

iii. Librarians' Internet Index

3. Tools built into databases

a. Some databases have a thesaurus built in while others do not. In the absence of a thesaurus, use other fields from the databases to refine your search terms:

i. author assigned keywords
L.O. screen shot from one of our databases that provide author assigned keywords (Web of Science)

ii. subject headings
L.O. screen shot from one of our databases that contains subject headings (WilsonWeb)

iii. in the case of books, Library of Congress Subject Headings
L.O. screen shot from a book record in the library catalog

References:

Bopp E, Smith L. (2001). Reference and Information Services: An Introduction (Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited).

Reitz, J. (2006). ODLIS: Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science (Libraries Unlimited: http://lu.com/odlis/)