Search terms
When you are searching for information it is good to try to summarize what you are searching for in a couple of precise search terms. The result of your search depends completely on what words you use in your search query. You can improve your searches considerably if you are familiar with how literature is indexed in different databases.
Begin by considering what information you need and specify this by choosing a number of words that describe what you are looking for.
A tip:
Formulate your information need as a question, and some useful search terms will often appear.
Define
the search terms by looking them up in dictionaries, encyclopedias and handbooks so that you are certain of their meaning. Make a note of synonyms and words with similar meaning or wider and more specific terms.
Mindmaps
can be very valuable to use as starting points when you begin searching because the search terms will often crystallize themselves distinctly. It is also a good way to save/collect the terms for further searches.
Subject word trees
another way to visualize your subject is to make a subject word tree, i.e. a hierarchical schedule of the search terms. How are the terms related? Which terms are wider or more precise?
Test
the search terms in the database and analyze the result list. You can find more useful search terms in the records of the most interesting articles. Check what words are used to describe their contents and make a note of them (in your mindmap).
Be creative
and associative when you are searching. If one search term does not work, pick a synonym instead. If there are too many vague search results, try to specify your search words. If there are too few results, try to widen your terms.
Refine
Be prepared to refine your searches as you get more insight in the subject and a clearer picture of what you are searching for.
Search term indexing in different databases
If you are familiar with how databases index their material you can make use of that when you are searching. Sometimes it is also possible to browse the index.
Keywords and indexing:
Indexing can be done in different ways, automatically and manually. Most often there is a mix of these methods. One way is for the author to describe his document by writing a short abstract and account for the contents by entering a number of suitable key words. Those descriptions are often indexed and searchable.
Subject words and thesaurus:
Other databases are based on a long tradition (from the 19th century) of gathering, classifying, indexing, marking-up and retrieving information about documents. The documents’ content is described based on a set list of subject words (thesaurus). This makes it possible to search for subject words in the thesaurus and then get a result list with the documents that match the subject word.
Svenska ämnesord, MeSH and Inspec thesaurus
Svenska ämnesord is an indexing language which was developed at the Royal Library, the national library of Sweden in cooperation with other libraries. The system consists of a database of controlled subject words. The database Svenska ämnesord contains more than 30 000 subject word combinations in all subject areas.
MeSH is a medical thesaurus that contains controlled vocabulary in English that is used for indexing articles in Medline and PubMed. Svenska MeSH is a translation into Swedish from the English language (made by staff at Karolinska Institutet) and can be used for translations from both languages.
Inspec thesaurus is a list of the technical terms that are used for describing documents in the Inspec database:
Use a thesaurus when there is one
In some databases you can enter your search term and get suggestions for what subject words can be useful, i.e. those that are used in the database thesaurus. There you can also see other related subject words. Also subject word hierarchies (subject trees) with wider or more specific terms are presented.
Create your own mindmap on the web
Here you find a search schedule for information seeking:
Eva Norling
2005-06-21
