Transcript Smart Searching

Smart Searching
Library Instruction
Fall 2008
Breaking down your Topic
• Imagine the title of the ideal book or
magazine article
– The virtual economies of video games
• Identify key concepts
– Economies / Video Games
• Think of synonyms or alternate search words
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Identifying Search Terms
Economies
Video Games
Economies
Video games
Currency
Digital games
Capital
Virtual worlds
Commodities
Synthetic worlds
Key
Concepts
Synonyms/Alternate Search Terms
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Basic Searching Techniques
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Boolean Operators
Truncation
Phrase Searching
Field Searching
Setting Limits
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Boolean Operators
Boolean operators link concepts within a search
• AND (to include all terms / concepts)
• OR (to include at least one term / concept)
• NOT (to exclude terms / concepts)
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Boolean Operators
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Truncation or Wildcards
• Expands a term to include all forms of the
root word:
econom* finds economics, economy, economies,
economical
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Phrase Searching
• Phrase searching forces the database to look
for two or more words together
Instead of:
video games
Try:
“video games” or (video games)
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Field Searching
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Title
Author
Subject
Descriptor
Anywhere
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Setting Limits
• Language
• Date
• Type of Publication
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Putting It All Together
(video game* OR digital game* OR synthetic
world* OR virtual world*)
AND
(econom* OR currenc* OR capital OR
commodit*)
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Refining Your Search
• To find FEWER results,
– Search in specific fields (title, abstract, subjects
etc.)
– Add or change search limits (date, language,
etc.)
– Add more search terms (using AND)
– Use phrase searching instead of AND
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Refining Your Search
• To find MORE results,
– Use truncation or wildcard characters (* or ?)
– Include more synonyms (use OR)
– Search “anywhere” rather than in specific fields
– Remove search limits (e.g. date, language, etc.)
– Use AND instead of phrase searching
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Refining Your Search
• To find more RELEVANT results,
– Use NOT to exclude unwanted terms
– Search specific fields (title, abstract,
subject/descriptor, etc.)
– Use AND instead of OR
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Any Questions?
Some Examples…
• TRELLIS
• Research Databases
– CSA
– Web of Science
• Google/Google Scholar
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TRELLIS
• What is TRELLIS?
– 3 catalogues in 1…
— Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier, and Guelph
(TUG)
• What will I find?
– Books
– Journals
– Government documents
– Conference proceedings
– Etc.
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TRELLIS
• For searching topics, use the Advanced Search
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TRELLIS
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TRELLIS
Search Strategy #1
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TRELLIS
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TRELLIS
Click on “LOCATION”
or check the sign
beside the elevators
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TRELLIS
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TRELLIS
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TRELLIS
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TRELLIS
Search Strategy #2a
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TRELLIS
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TRELLIS
Search Strategy #2b
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TRELLIS
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TRELLIS
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TRELLIS –
Getting books NOT at UW
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TRELLIS –
Getting books NOT at UW
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TRELLIS –
Getting books NOT at UW
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TRELLIS –
Getting books NOT at UW
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Going Beyond TUG
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Going Beyond TUG
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Going Beyond TUG
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Any Questions?
Your Turn!
• Try searching for books on a topic of your
choice.
• What are the subjects given in the record?
• Choose a subject which you think would be
appropriate.
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Research Databases
• Use to find journal articles on topics
• Choose an appropriate database
– Topic/subject
– Date
• You can work from home!
– Use the Connect from Home link
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Research Databases
Searches a predetermined set of
databases
Select the database
to search
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Research Databases
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CSA Databases
• Over 20 databases covering a large variety of
subject areas
• Can search multiple databases or a single
database
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CSA Databases
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CSA Databases
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CSA Databases
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CSA Databases
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CSA Databases
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CSA Databases
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Any Questions?
Your Turn!
• Search for articles on a topic of your choice.
• Select one article.
– Write down the complete citation.
– What are the subjects (descriptors)?
– Is it available in full text electronically? (don’t
forget to check TRELLIS even if Get It @ Waterloo
says it isn’t!)
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Cited Reference Searching
• A specialized type of searching
• Available through
– Web of Science
– Scopus
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What is Cited Reference Searching?
End Note Chasing
Cited Reference Searching
Look up the references
listed at the end of an
article
Find articles that cite a
previously published article
1999
backwards
line of
research
1965
(Earlier Work)
1999
forwards
line of
research
2006
(Recent Work)
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Cited Reference Searching:
Search Example
Lastowka, F. G. & Hunter, D. (2003). The
laws of the virtual worlds. California Law
Review.
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Web of Science
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Web of Science
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Web of Science
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Web of Science
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Web of Science
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Web of Science
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Web of Science
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Any Questions?
Your Turn!
• Navigate to Web of Science, and click the
Cited Ref Search button
• How many times has the following article
been cited?
Griffiths, MD. Breaking the stereotype: the case for
online gaming. Cyberpsychology & Behavior 6 (1):
81-91 FEB 2003.
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Google Scholar
• Retrieves material from scholarly journals…BUT
– Questions as to what is covered and not covered
– Relevancy and ranking issues
– Currency
• Generally, does not retrieve articles from research
databases and other fee-based services such as
those to which UW subscribes
• Use, but with caution and for specific types of
materials…
– E.g., conference papers, technical reports, government
documents, white papers, etc.
Google, itself, is not the problem –
it's what Google finds that can be a problem
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Google Scholar
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Google Scholar
Basic Search Screen
Capitalization IS
important!
("video game*" OR "digital game*" OR
"synthetic world*" OR "virtual world*")
AND (econom* OR currenc* OR capital
OR commodity)
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Google Scholar
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Google Advanced Search
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Google Advanced Search
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Google Advanced Search
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Any Questions?
Your Turn!
• Using Google and Google Scholar, look for the
article that you found in the CSA search.
• Did you find it?
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Thank You!