Please watch the following video (3:11) to learn about creating a search strategy for library-related research.
Imagine you've chosen the perfect research topic for a final
assignment. It's something that you're really interested in and you're ready
to dive into the database and find articles on the topic.
Before you jump right in, it would be helpful to consider a search strategy.
Your choice in terms can mean the difference
in finding what you need, and finding nothing at all. This
video will show you how.
Suppose you're interested in the following question about cryptocurrencies.
We've been taught to search for this type of information by simply asking
questions on the web. Typing this into a web browser
or library database is not the best way to find appropriate
peer-reviewed information for your assignment. To get the most out of research
databases, you need to search in a particular way. A more effective
strategy is to break down your search topic. First,
identify the key concepts in your topic or question
Disregard other words that are not central
to the topic at hand. These will just get in the way.
Second, think about synonyms for key concepts.
Ask yourself, are there other words or acronyms you can use
to describe these key concepts? Finally,
put it all together with Boolean operators.
Like AND, OR, and NOT.
Use AND to connect
different concepts together, like cryptocurrency AND
AND mining AND environment.
Use OR to connect similar concepts together like
cryptocurrency OR blockchain OR
currency examples, like bitcoin OR Ethereum.
Use NOT to exclude specific concepts,
like including bitcoin
but NOT result Ethereum. Using AND will result
in a more specific or limited search. Using OR
will expand the number of results.
using not will limit the number of results.
Putting it all together, your search might look something like this:
There's no perfect search. Finding relevant results
will take time and practice. You will change your search multiple times
as you find more material. You may find that you have to be more
specific to narrow down your results. Or you may have to be
more general to widen your search.
It can be really frustrating working with all the different types of
information out there. If you ever need a helping hand, just reach out
to a librarian. We're here to help.