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Doing Library Research |
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Skill Set 8: Evaluating and Revising Search Results
| # of Questions | Topic |
|---|---|
Focus of SAILS questions:
- Appropriateness of resources
- Narrowing and expanding results
- Using bibliographies to find more information
Comments
- SS 8 does not have enough content to stand as its own module
- Combine with SS 4 (Types of Finding Tools) and SS 1 (Developing a Research Strategy)
Outline
- Selecting and Evaluating Resources
- Search Strategies: Narrowing and Expanding Results
- Bibliographies
A. Selecting and Evaluating Resources
1. See SS 4 "Types of Finding Tools. Integrate into discussion the answer to the question: What type of resource should I use? Use UCLA's "Flow of Information" chart (http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/flow/hint.htm) as a starting point - perhaps expand to include types of authors etc (see http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/select_table.htm).
a. Visual No. 1
Report of Event |
Time Frame |
How to Find |
Radio/TV/Internet News Services |
Seconds/minutes |
TV News Indexes; Web Search Tools |
Newspapers (print) |
Day / Days+ |
Newspaper Indexes |
Magazines (print) |
Week / Weeks |
Periodical Indexes |
Journals (print & electronic) |
6 months + |
Periodical Indexes; Bibliographies |
Books |
2+ years |
Library Catalog; WorldCat; Bibliographies |
Reference Sources -- e.g. Encyclopedia; Handbook (print & electronic) |
ave. 10 years |
Library Catalog; Virtual Reference Shelf; Bibliographies |
**Use Captivate to show website navigation to find above mentioned research tools.
b. Visual No. 2
Information Timeline
Present |
Day |
Week |
Months |
Years |
Web |
Newspapers |
Popular Magazine |
Scholarly Journals |
Reference Sources |
Books |
B. Search Strategies: Narrowing and Expanding Results
1. See SS1 - Developing a Research Strategy - Identifying your topic. Expand discussion of keyword searching to obtain desired results. Include discussion about selecting keywords by using concepts?
Concept One |
Concept Two |
Concept Three |
recycl* |
domestic |
waste* |
reuse |
household |
refuse |
a. Visual No. 1
- Boolean Searching (See Show Me: How Do I Search? )
b. Visual No. 2
Cheat Sheet for Expanding or Narrowing
Results |
Too many results? |
Too few results? |
Add another keyword to your search using the connector AND |
Have you misspelled or mistyped any search terms? |
Limit your search by: language, year of publication, journal title, or publication type |
Use synonyms and alternative words joined by OR |
Focus your search by using the database's thesaurus or index |
Truncate your search terms to pick up variant spellings |
Is the database you are using is appropriate for your search topic? (Link to eresources by subject) |
C. Bibliographies
1. Use bibliography to find related resources.
2. How to read a citation
D. Visual
1. Elements of a citation appearing one by one
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