30 Mins on Search Strategies

 

                                   Christina Bush

Research and Instruction Librarian

                    cbush1@swarthmore.edu

Agenda

  • Discussion Question
  • Define Searching
  • Strategic Searching 
  • Active Searching
    • citation tracing
    • formative evaluation/BEAM
  • Questions/Final Thoughts

What do we mean when we say "searching"?

searching within the context of information resources can be defined as the process a user undertakes to locate or retrieve specific information to meet an information need, typically, but not always with the aid of a search engine or other information retrieval system.

How do you typically begin a search?

users are always making decisions that inform what types of results they will get

typically these decisions include:

  • where

  • what

all searching is strategic

 searching as strategic exploration

Searching as Strategic Exploration refers to the understanding that information searching is often nonlinear and iterative, requiring the evaluation of a broad range of information sources and the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding is developed.

let's search!

consider using your results to direct further searching (iterative/non-linear :))

BEAM

  • Background:  provides general information to explain the topic. Think of this as factual, or even encyclopediac evidence. 
  • Exhibit: using a source as evidence or examples to analyze. For a literature paper, this would be a poem you are analyzing. For a history paper, a historical document you are analyzing. For a sociology paper, it might be the data from a study.
  • Argument: using a source to engage its argument. For example, you might use a scholarly article's claims about emotion and nationalism to advance an argument in your own paper about citizenship as an affective experience. 
  • Method: using a source’s way of analyzing an issue to apply to your own issue. For example, you might use the way a study frames its methods, definitions, or conclusions on gentrification in Chicago to apply to your own neighborhood in New York City.

Summary of Strategies 

  • consider searching multiple places  (non-linear)
  • use the results to direct further searching (citation trace, use subject headings/key terms, etc.) 
  • BEAM as you go!

Questions?

connect with me:

cbush1@swarthmore.edu