Note: These
steps are not necessarily performed in the following exact order but
"recursively," as you revise your strategies and adapt them to your
search results. You may need to go back to some questions several times.
- Identify the problem
- Can I state my search problem in a clear
question or questions?
- What type of information do I need?
(overview, scholarly, news, point of view, documents, breaking news)
- How much information do I need? (Am I
writing a research paper, essay, definition? Am I scripting a digital
story, full length video or
-
2. Select appropriate databases or search tools
- Does the search tool or database cover my subject?
- Does it contain the formats I
need to answer my questions? (newspapers, magazines, primary sources,
video, encyclopedia)
- Are there abstracts to help me
decide if the text will be useful?
- Does it cover the time period
I am interested in?
- Can I understand the
information contained in it? (If I can't understand the abstracts, the
text is likely to be very challenging!)
- Is it full text? If not, can I
access the materials it indexes through interlibrary loans, other
libraries, or fax? (Ask for help rather than give up!
3.
Brainstorm keywords, subjects, and tags
- What are my major concepts?
- What synonyms, broader or
narrower terms, or related ideas could I use?
- How will I link the keywords
with Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), especially in databases?
What are the search strategies available in the search tool?
- Should I be concerned about
plurals or other forms of words? (Are there truncation or wildcard
features?)
- Will proper names (people or
places) focus my search?
- Should I adjust my strategy
for a full-text database?
- Is there a thesaurus or
controlled vocabulary? Does the search tool suggest related terms? (Check
your results for "subject headings.")
- Are some words meaningless
(for example, "company" in a business database) in this
database?
- Have I spelled everything
correctly?
4.
Subject vs. keyword
search
-
Do I have more than one concept to search?
- Am I browsing for a topic or looking for a way to narrow a broad
topic?
- Can I spell the vocabulary correctly?
- Can I search by field?
5.
Refine the search online
(Searching is an interactive process!)
-
Are my hits relevant, readable, accessible?
- Have I used all the strategies I planned to use?
- Have I tried different combinations of keywords?
- Should I use broader or narrower terms?
- Have I searched with "peripheral vision"? (Have I
examined the most promising hits for better vocabulary, especially in the
"subject" or "descriptor" fields?)
- Did I spell my search terms correctly?Do I need to ask the library information specialist for advice?
- Should I try another database or search engine?Is my topic really not "doable"? Should I consider
another?
- Can I set up an alert or RSS feed for my best search?
6.
Evaluate the search
offline; examine that printout; ask, "What if?"
- How relevant were my results?
- Which of the results are the best? (relevant, timely, credible,
readable, available, and promote the point of view I support)
- Which of my strategies worked best? Should I try them in another
database?
- Are there additional keyword clues in my printout?
- Did I select the best possible databases?
- Did I get the help I needed? Did I ask?
- What is my next step?
