Search Strategies

Helpful Strategies

Today society is so immersed in the digital world that very few other sources seem attractive to them. Due to the instant access of information, many people tend to access the internet as their first source of information. However, users often do not have the strategies to search the internet effectively. Oblinger (2008) put forward that even though our society, and in particular our Net Generation, seems comfortable with the digital technology that does not mean they know how to use it effectively and to its fullest potential. People search for information by employing a variety of methods and utilising various resources. Some approaches are met with efficiency and success; others with frustration and dismay. Savolainen (2007) stated that “people tend to be satisficers: they stop information seeking after finding information that is good enough, given the time constraints in specific situations.” 

Using effective search strategies is important in ensuring that a person finds the most appropriate information and does not just settle. Search strategies may be simple in design or more complex. The use of Boolean Logic, during an investigation, can assist a person refine their search. Boolean operators enable the search to be broadened or narrowed. Different search tools may use different operators. Many search engines, such as Google, assume that you are using AND between each word, even if you didn’t enter it. For example, you may type in “industrial revolution England”, the search engine will assume that you meant industrial AND revolution AND England. The table below includes some possible strategies for searching using databases and search engines.

OPERATOR	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLE	EFFECTIVENESS
	Keyword or idea	inquiry	broad
	Use a phrase, question, or string of ideas	primary inquiry learning	simple, broad
	Use lowercase letters. Use capitals only for proper nouns. Avoid plurals	history Queensland	uppercase can limit your search
AND, +, &	Includes both words	inquiry AND history	narrows
OR	Includes wither word	primary or elementary	broadens
NOT, -	Excludes this word	Australia NOT Europe	narrows
*	Wildcard, includes plurals and close matches	history*	broadens
“”	Looks for words in the quotations	“inquiry learning” AND history	narrows
	Document type	PDF, full text, abstract	narrows
	Source type	website	narrows
	Language	English	narrows
	Thesaurus, synonyms	Inquiry,Guided Inquiry Primary, elementary,	broadens

  

Useful information about search strategies can be found at Teacher Tap: Search Strategies .

References

Johnson, L 2007, 'Search Strategies', Teacher Tap, Accessed 17th August 2013, Source: from http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic74.htm

Oblinger, D. (2008). Growing up with Google: What it means to education. Emerging technologies for learning. Volume 3.

  Savolainen, Reijo. (2007). Filtering and withdrawing: strategies for coping with information overload in  everyday contexts. Finland: Journal of Information Sciences.

MIND MAPPING – KEY WORDS and LINKS

Mind mapping is a useful strategy for visually organising information. It is usually created around a single word or text, placed in the centre, to which associated ideas, words and concepts are added. This strategy is effective at the beginning of task as it allows you to brainstorm about the basic problem and generate ideas and associations from it in order to arrive at a number of possible approaches. This mind map visually depicts my brainstorming of the set task, providing key words to assist me with my searching. 

Google and Google Scholar

The internet is an innovative vehicle for communication. For better or worse, online research is rapidly displacing more traditional methods. Google is one of the popular search engines that people utilise. You often hear the catch phrase, “I’ll google that”. Google provides access to a broad range of information. Google Scholar was developed to provide more scholarly and scientific specific information for the academic community. 

Both search engines provide practical tips to assist you with search. They use Boolean logic and provide an advanced search option to assist in broadening or narrowing of your search options. Google uses a ranking system which displays the most popular sites first. Within Google Scholar, the number of citations impacts on the ranking order. Google Scholar also displays a perforatory description of the item, for example, book.

When conducting a Google search, the site recommends starting simple, ignore spelling, using web friendly words, less is more, using exact phrases and descriptive words, not case sensitive, searching within a specific site, don’t worry about punctuation and searching by file type. 

Like everything there are exceptions to how a product may act. Google provides the following examples:

• Common words like "the," "a," and "for," are usually ignored, but might not be if they're integral to your search phrase. For example, the word "the" differentiates a search for the who (likely referring to the band) and who (likely referring to the World Health Organization).
• A webpage could appear in your results even if it doesn't contain all of the words from your search.
• Synonyms might replace some words in your original query, but you can put a word or phrase in quotes to prevent this from happening.
• Generally, most punctuation and special characters are ignored, however there is a growing list of punctuation and symbols that are recognized in searches.

My Experience

When conducting a Google search, my initial search was simple. I typed in four key words: primary, geography, inquiry, learning. This provided a large number of hits. From this list, I was able to identify some suitable sources of information. Although the sources were numerous, the search provided some useful information to continue my search. For example, it provided scholarly articles without having to go to Google Scholar. More importantly it provided me with alternative search terms to use, such as geographical inquiry and inquiry-based.

My next search was still simple, although I included quotation marks to group words together. The search string of primary “geographical inquiry” learning resulted in minimal change in results. I then began applying more complex search strategies by employing Boolean operators. An example is (primary OR elementary) geographical (inquiry AND “guided-inquiry”) learning. This broadened my results by provided American information sources.

 

Due to a change in my ILA, my key words changed and the results are recorded in the table below as well as sample screen shots.

Tool	Sample Strategies	Results	Response
Google	inquiry learning history secondary	23,700,000	- provided scholarly article links - Australia related - subject “history” focussed
Google Scholar		535,000	-broader – inquiry focussed -science based -suggests related articles
Google	“inquiry learning” AND history AND “secondary schools”	130,000	-provided scholarly links -provided search terms e.g. historical - not all information freely available, i.e. need to purchase subscription, buy book
Google Scholar		1,500	-educational focus -not all information freely available, i.e. need to purchase subscription, buy book -suggests related articles
Google	(“inquiry learning” OR “inquiry-based learning”) AND (“history” OR “historical”) AND (“secondary schooling” OR “middle Schooling” OR “junior high”)	154,000	-provided more practical approaches for teachers, e.g. unit plans - more global, e.g. Canada, U.S.A - provided scholarly links -broader -  across variety of subjects
Google Scholar		1,360	-focus on middle schooling -links to library data base -focus on history aspects rather than subject “history”
Google	“historical inquiry” AND “secondary schooling”	4,210	-more school based -Australian sites relevant to subject history -American focussed on history of the schooling
Google Scholar		134	-focus on historical aspects rather than the subject -provided sources of historical skills

A+ Education and ProQuest

A+ Education is a database that provides access to globally relevant education research, designed for the teaching and research professional. Further information about the database can be accessed at the following link. http://www.informit.com.au/education.html

ProQuest Education Journals gives users access to over 1,090 top educational publications, including more than 800 of the titles in full text. There are more than 2.2 million records to-date, nearly 8,000 of which are dissertations and theses. Approximately 75% of the publications included in this database are scholarly journals. Further information about the database can be accessed at the following link.  http://proquest.libguides.com/educationjournals

My Experience

To compare sourcing information using an online search engine and an online library database, I used the same terminology where possible. I used the advanced search option on both databases as this seemed a more effective way of searching. The databases provided useful and detailed information on the search screen relating to the item, which made selecting resources more efficient. The option to select multiple resources from the search was also beneficial. The sources were of a professional level. I preferred using A+Education as it provided access to more Australian sources.

 

Tool	Sample Strategies	Records	Response
A+ Education	inquiry learning history secondary	149	- majority related to subject history and inquiry approach -theoretical emphasis
ProQuest		167079	-evidenced based articles -historical inquiry skills -inquiry learning, or similar, across variety of disciplines -majority secondary school related -more global
A+ Education	“inquiry learning” AND history AND “secondary schools”	0 + 34	-first attempt yielded zero results, removed quotations and result changed -provided Australian sources -some focussed on pedagogy, some on environment
ProQuest		831	-majority to inquiry learning -limited reference to history and inquir-more global
A+ Education	(“inquiry learning” OR “inquiry-based learning”) AND (“history” OR “historical”) AND (“secondary schooling” OR “middle Schooling” OR “junior high”)	0 + 493	-first attempt yielded zero, changed query to inquiry-based learning AND history OR historical AND secondary schooling OR middle schooling -little information based on subject history -more global -theoretical
ProQuest		0 + 9875	-minimum information on history -major emphasis on learning in general and schooling
A+ Education	historical inquiry AND secondary schooling	4	-only one source relevant to history subject -majority focussed on schooling rather than inquiry
ProQuest		54738 + 80	-global, American emphasis -added quotation marks→ reduced, very little related to historical inquiry as a pedagogy, still American