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Creating a Search Strategy
Nelson Poynter Memorial Library
In this module you will learn to:
Self-assessment activities include:
Most importantly, you will learn how to manipulate the database tools and features to retrieve relevant scholarly articles that are appropriate for your assignment and research needs.
This learning module is designed for you to be able to complete in approximately 20 minutes.
An Information Gap is the space between what you currently know and the information you need to answer your question or write your paper. An effective search strategy will help you bridge that information gap on a concise topic and with the right number of resources. The first step in bridging that information gap is to determine your research topic. For many students new to research, this can be a daunting task. A practical method to identify your research topic and key concept is to:
Perhaps at this point you may need to learn a bit more about your topic before you really begin your research. Reading encyclopedias and other general resources can be a great way to obtain an overview of your subject, definitions of key terms, timeline of important events, and a basic entree into the theories, debates, applications, and knowledge gaps of your topic. As you read, be sure to write down any new terms or concepts that you may find. These key terms and concepts will become the building blocks of your search.
The next step in your research is to access a library database. If you're searching for scholarly articles, using a library database makes sense because they provide reliable sources that are specifically designed to satisfy your research needs. Many of the USF databases provide full text electronic articles that you can print or read online as well. These electronic resources are restricted to USF students and faculty.
Don't worry, if you're on campus, you automatically have access to all them. If you are off-campus, be sure to log into my.usf.edu to authenticate that you are a USF student and click the link to the Poynter Library. Once you have done this, you should be able to access all of the library databases and full text journal articles.
For Example:
With your search results, you want a balance that retrieves the number of articles you need, but not so many articles that you waste time sorting through irrelevant materials. This balance is achieved by adjusting the number of relevant items you retrieve and how precise or focused you structure your search.
This is probably how you're used to searching, but what are you actually doing? When you search by Keyword, you are asking the computer to search for a word anywhere it might appear. A keyword search will recall (or retrieve) the highest number of possible documents, but many of the items will not necessarily be relevant to your subject or search needs.
For a more precise Search, try using the database's search features to refine your results. By knowing how to manipulate these features, you can focus or narrow your results as you desire, retreive more relevant articles, and ultimately save time. Although the "look" of the database webpage and interface may change, most databases include the same search features:
When you search by database field, you are asking the computer to search a specific part (field) of the document record. Field searching help you focus your search and narrow down your results to items that are more relevant to your topic. Common fields include:
For Example:
If you search the term: Wolf in the Author Field, you will retrieve documents that are written by someone called Wolf, such as:
If you search for the term: Wolf in the Title Field, you might retrieve these documents:
Some databases let you search specifically using the "Subject" or "Descriptors" field. Each item in a structured database is tagged with an agreed upon Subject Heading.
These "Subject Headings"
For Example:
Practice searching by keyword and field in the Academic Search Premier database. This is a large multidisciplinary database with millions of scholarly articles on a vast array of topics; as such it is a good database for you to use when you need to begin your research and find scholarly articles.
Remember if you are off campus, you will need to log into my.usf.edu to authenticate that you are a USF student and gain access to the database. Remember to come back to the tutorial and answer the quiz questions on your search results.
Go to the Academic Search Premier database -- this will open up in a new tab or window.
Allows you to combine more than one topics to help you either expand or refine a search using the terms - AND, OR, & NOT
You retrieve only the articles that mention both A AND B. This is a good way to narrow your results.
A synonym is a word that can be used in the place of another word to mean the same thing (i.e. Mathematics OR Arithmetic)
In this case, you retrieve only the articles that mention A but NOT B. This is a good way of getting rid of irrelevant "hits" that use the same term.
Watch this video to see how a database will sort and retrieve articles based upon your search terms and Boolean logic.
Open the Academic Search Premier database in another tab or window and perform the following searches. Remember to come back to this tutorial after your search exploration.
Search the terms:
Tennis (SU Subject) AND
Training (SU Subject) AND
Florida (SU Subject)
Change your search to:
Tennis (SU Subject) AND
Training OR Education OR Coaching OR instruction (SU Subject) AND
Florida (Select a Field)
If your search only retrieves a small number of articles and you need more to fulfill the requirements of your assignment, then redo your search using some of these suggestions.
If you get hundreds or thousands of "hits", think about narrowing down using some of these search strategies:
Show/hide comprehension question...
Show/hide comprehension question...
This is a subjective question that only you can answer. Possible variables to consider include:
Remember, what's important is that your articles:
This module has provided you with an overview on how to create an effective search strategy.
Using good keywords, subject headings, and knowing how to use the terms AND, OR, and NOT, will help you focus your search, find a concise group of articles relevant to your assignment requirements, and ultimately save time.
To access information about library services or search the library catalog or article databases, visit the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library Web page at: www.nelson.usf.edu.
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Or call the Nelson Poynter Library Information Desk:
Phone: 727-873-4405