English 1213 Dr. ReimersSession 1Searching Techniques & CatalogsFrederic Murray, M.L.I.S. Erin Ingraham. M.L.I.S. (2009)

Information Literacy

It is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

Library Instruction in the Information Age A single current newspaper contains more

written and visual information than the average person in the 17th Century was likely to come across in their entire lifetime. There are many areas of literacy that all add up to Information Literacy: Cultural, Visual, Media, Network, Computer, Traditional Alphabetic Literacy, and Library Instruction.

DID YOU KNOW…

Educational Goals for 21st Century

1. Teach Students to be self-directed & understand how to organize more & more of their own learning.

2. Teach our students the importance of global communication.

3. Teach our students to deal with massive amounts of information.

Library Instruction in the Information Age New Search Strategies are required. Critical evaluation is more important than

ever.

Define: Catalog, Database, WWW

Catalog: A comprehensive list of the books, periodicals, maps, and other materials in a given collection.

Database: A large, regularly updated file of digitized information related to a specific subject or field.

World Wide Web: A global network of Internet servers providing access to documents written in a script called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) that allows content to be interlinked, locally and remotely.

Search Techniques

Keyword Basic Boolean

Keywords

Flexible terms Easy searches Less accurate

searches

Identifying Keywords

Identify the significant terms and concepts that describe your topic from your thesis statement or research question.

These terms will become the key for searching catalogs, indexes, and databases for information about your subject.

Other Keywords

Identify the synonyms and antonyms to your keywords

Use a thesaurus Use database tools like descriptors and

subjects

Keyword Phrases

Single concept, multiple words Some electronic resources require keyword

phrases be enclosed with punctuation Quotation marks Parenthesis

Keyword Phrases

Basic phrase Proper names Hyphenated words Slogans,

advertisements Famous quotes Movie titles, song

titles, etc.

(computer disk) “Native American” (x-ray or fine-tune) “kills bugs dead”

(to be or not to be) “Lord of the Rings”

Paper Topics

Lottery Home schooling Closed campus Learning disabilities Textbook prices Standardized testing Violence

Textbook pricing

First, narrow down the topic Which textbooks are you talking about? What about pricing?

Focus on: Rising cost for students Profit for publisher and authors Cost of paper/natural resources Role of colleges/universities to intercede

How do students off-set this cost? More work hours/multiple jobs? More loans/scholarships? More credit card debt?

How “AND” is used

AND (narrows) textbook and college textbook and college and “price increases”

Select three keywords…

CollegeStudent Textbook prices

How “OR” is used

OR (expands)college or university increases or rising

AND & OR togethercollege or university and textbook increases or rising and “textbook cost”

Select related terms…

CollegeStudent Textbook prices

Undergraduates

Collegian

University

Higher Education

inflation

College expenses

Search Strategy

Endless possibilities… student OR collegian AND textbook AND cost student AND “textbook pricing” AND college OR university textbook AND college AND inflation

Boolean

AND = Narrow

OR = Expand

NOT = Exclude

Boolean Operators

Connect keywords only Must be placed between keywords AND

Narrows your search

OR Expands your search with synonymous terms

NOT Excludes words from your search If used too much, it can work against you!

Class Exercise

Keyword Building Exercise

Topic: U.S.A. Presidential Elections Thesaurus.com

U.S.A. Presidential Elections

State

American

National

Voting History

Choosing

Balloting Record

Politics

Helpful Keywords to UseHelpful Keywords to Use

Issue Controversy Statistic Ethical Rights Debate Attitude Trend Condition

Examples:

Rights and povertydeath penalty and Controversyhousehold spending and Trends

Pro/Con ResourcesPro/Con Resources

Book SeriesContemporary IssuesOpposing ViewpointsReference ShelfTaking Sides

Finding books

Catalog Use keyword searching with Boolean

operators Subject searching

Library Catalog

Search for books, e-books, and videos Renew your borrowed items Accessible from off-campus with no

restrictions Operates best with

the presented search

techniques

Library Catalog Found Here

SWOSU Catalog

WorldCat

Ebrary

Ebrary provides more than 44,000 digital books in a broad range of subject areas, including business, technology, health and medicine, literature and the humanities, physical sciences, social sciences, and interdisciplinary studies. Ebrary digital books contain the full-text and illustrations of their print counterparts.

Exercise

Catalog worksheetSWOSUWorldCat

Topic: U.S.A Presidential Elections

Pro/Con ResourcesPro/Con Resources

CQ Researchercontains information on current and

controversial issues concentric to the U.S. Government

Issues and Controversiesprovides up-to-date, objective

information on the most prominent and hotly debated issues of the day

Questions?

Contact me:

Frederic Murray 744-7113 frederic.murray@swosu.edu http://faculty.swosu.edu/frederic.murray/

Thank You