Searchguide – BTH English

The ability to search for information is becoming increasingly important in our society. To be able to find, evaluate and organize information is gaining in importance as the amount of information grows.

Before you begin to search it is important to carefully consider what type of information you need. The preparations needed and the way you go about searching varies depending on how extensive answers you want from your search and for what purpose you need the information.

If you are just looking for a quick answer for a simple data question it is often enough to look it up in a dictionary or by doing a quick search in a search engine on the Internet. If on the other hand you want to perform a more extensive search you should prepare and plan your search carefully. Information seeking is a process where you decide how much time and effort you want to invest in your search and what you think is important to get out of it.

In the following texts you will learn about among other things how to build a search strategy for a search, how to find suitable search terms that will give relevant matches and also tips on how to keep up to date in a certain subject area.

Anne-Marie Pettersson
2010-02-04

Consult the Search guide, librarians, your tutor, your teachers and handbooks in essay writing to solve these issues.

• Do you have a clearly defined seach topic? When you have a clearly defined search topic and you know what you want to address in e.g. a paper, it is easier to start searching for information. Discuss the topic with your teacher/tutor if you need help. You can also read about the formulation of essay topics in handbooks about essay writing.
• Do you know approximately how much and what kind of information you need? What level – a doctoral thesis or an entry from an encyclopaedia? Which are the best places to search? A search engine on the Internet, a reference database or some other source? Have you chosen the information sources that are best suited for your information need? Read more about choosing information sources in the part about Search strategy.
• Find out how the search technique works in the information sources you are using. Many databases have roughly the same functions which facilitate searching and enable very precise searches, but you search in different ways. How does the database you are searching work? Can you use truncation? How can you combine search terms? You can read more about this in the part about Search technique.
• Set aside time for choosing good search terms based on your search topic. Finding the right search terms can be crucial for finding the information you need. Have you found synonyms and alternative terms? Checked index and thesaurus in the database you are using? Read more about this in the part about Search terms.
• Documenting your search makes searching much easier because then you know what search term combinations you have already tried and what databases you have used. E.g. “teacher role” and “distance education” in ERIC gave the following results… If you need to return to a search you can easily check how and where you were searching.
• Make a careful selection of information and evaluate the information you find critically. Does it answer your questions? Is it credible? Up-to-date? Read more about this in the part about criticism of the sources or in the part about evaluating information sources from the Internet. What criteria do you use when you evaluate information?
• Remember to make notes about where you have found the information you are using so that you can refer to those sources correctly. It should be easy for the reader to see what are your own thoughts and conclusions and what you have found in other sources. It should also be easy for the reader to find the sources if they want to use them for further reading or check the information you have used. Read more about citing sources in the part about References. What style of references do you use?

Below you find a checklist, useful for information seeking (both as pdf and word document:

Jenny Löfkvist
2005-06-27

If you are a distance student or if you for some reason prefer to work from home you still have access to most of the Library’s databases.

Searching information from home

The library subscribes to a large number of databases, especially for students and teachers/researchers at Blekinge Institute of Teachnology. For you to be able to use the databases also outside of the campus area we offer login via a proxy server.

Everybody who is registered at BTH will get an account by contacting the Computer department. BTH staff will get a web password from the Lotus Notes-support. If you are outside the BTH computer network and choose one of the databases from the Library web page “Information resources” you will automatically be transferred to a login page with the text “Welcome to the library login page”. There you login using your student/bth-account and then you are connected to the database you chose.

Most databases can be accessed this way, but with some you are required to be on campus or come to the Library and contact the librarian at the information desk who will login for you at a computer in the library. These databases require a password.

Anne-Marie Pettersson
2010-02-08

Tutorials and help pages for databases, search engines and subject catalogues on the Internet work as support and guidance for new users. These help functions are built-in the systems.

Tutorials

An introductory tutorial is useful when you want to start searching a new database. Tutorials are used for new users who are learning a system and they often give step-by-step instructions. Online tutorials are sessions for practice which are constructed especially for new users of a database so that they will get an idea of how it works.

At your own pace you can go through prepared exercises and examples in a test environment. You can go back and repeat if you did not understand the instructions the first time. You can follow how a search is built, how to use the thesaurus, how different operators such as And, OR and NOT are used, plus get many good tips on what to keep in mind when searching that specific database.

An example of an interactive online-tutorial is the help for the Search-function in Science Direct.

Help pages

Most search tools have help pages. A good advice for when you are searching the web is to always read the help pages of search engines and subject catalogues where you can get advice on how to limit your search among other things. In the help pages you can also get tips on how operators such as AND, OR and NOT are uses, plus many other useful tips on what to consider when searching that specific database. The functions of the operators can vary between different databases and search engines.

If you want to get better and more manageable search results you should learn a little more about the search tool you are using. If you spend a couple of minutes learning to use them it will be easier for you to find good and useful information. The help pages available from the various search engines and catalogues are often very valuable to study when you are searching for information. They help you save time and to get more precise search results.

You will find a good example of a help page with the search engine Google.

Anne-Marie Pettersson
2010-02-08

When searching for literature, you should not only examine the sources you have used critically, but you must also evaluate the search results critically.

To perform a literature search which gives many good, up-to-date and relevant matches in the subject can be time consuming. If the search gives none or very few matches in a subject where you might assume that much material has been published it can be useful to evaluate the search(es) you have done.

If you have not found the information you had expected to find you should ask yourself the following questions: Why was there so few search results? Why did I not find the information I need? Perhaps you need to rephrase your search query so that it covers your information need better.

You should also ask yourself if you have used correct search terms in your search query. Have you tried all the subject words that cover your information need? Most of the reference databases have very detailed thesauri of the subject words that are relevant for that database. Here you will find tips about what search words are best to use in that database. By using the recommended terms you will get more relevant search results.

Have you used synonyms for your terms? What other words/terms have similar meaning? Your course literature in the subject may be another good source for finding good search terms. If you can not find good synonyms for your search terms another good way is thinking in hierarchies. What wider or more specific terms could you use?

Is the database you are searching the one that best covers your subject area? Or are there several databases that are also relevant for your field?

Have you set aside enough time for your search? Searching for literature for a paper/assignment is often quite time consuming. Could it be that you have not had enough time to carry out a carefully prepared and well thought-out search?

And, last but not least – did you check the spelling? Many searches fail because of misspellings!

Anne-Marie Pettersson
2010-02-08

Thanks to the fact that many databases are now offering automatic literature coverage it is easier to keep up-to-date with the latest research findings in a subject.

Selective dissemination of information (SDI)

A standing SDI will give you an overview of news in your area of interest. You create a search profile that is run regularly in the database, and if a new document matches your search query you will get a reference to the new document by e-mail. E-mail alerts are often free of charge, but you must find the full text of the article yourself.

Table of contents (TOC)

Many publishers, with both electronic and printed publications, offer the possibility of a subscription for the table of contents pages from recently published journal issues. In addition to the table of contents you often get short summaries of the published articles. All you need to do is register your e-mail address and what subjects / journals you are interested in.

The ultimate search profile

Take into account the fact that it often takes some time to find a good search profile / search query. At first it is easy to make too wide searches and your inbox will quickly fill with material that is not quite interesting, and which you do not have the time to go through. To avoid this you might create a very narrow search that never gives any results. It is advisable to spend some extra time to find the right search profile.

In the long run it pays off to have effective subject coverage. Unfortunately you cannot count on using the same search query in all databases. Neither the search language, nor indexing or thesauri are standardized.

Accept the fact that it takes some time to find an effective search profile. Check what special features the databases you are interested in have (read about search technique in the database help pages), reflect over the search results. Are you satisfied with the result or do you want to make some adjustments in the search query?

Eva Norling
2005-06-21

Are you sure about the meaning of your search terms? To get a definition of your search term – look it up in dictionaries and encyclopedias, especially those that are subject specific. There you can also get tips about alternative search terms. Many searches fail because of misspellings or mistranslations.

In dictionaries

you can get anything from short definitions to more extensive articles. Dictionaries can have a general content or include specific subject areas, e.g. compare Encyclopedia Britannica to ADAM Medical encyclopedia.

In Swedish there are different words for language dictionaries and other dictionaries like for example medical or general dictionaries. In daily speech the association is often that an encyclopedia consists of many volumes. An encyclopedia generally has the ambition to give a comprehensive overview of all knowledge, either generally or in a specific subject.

On the Library web page you can find a great number of electronic dictionaries (language) and encyclopedias.

Language dictionaries

can be general or subject specific. They describe the words, and they can be in one or several languages. The purpose of language dictionaries is to describe language as opposed to the aim of the encyclopedia: to describe the world. A glossary or word-list is more a register of words than a description of them.

Technical/specialist dictionaries

If the database you are searching uses English search terms it is important that you use the correct English term when searching. Technical dictionaries are a useful aid for this purpose.

A thesaurus

is a catalogue of terms in a certain subject field. It can also be a catalogue of the descriptors or key words used to describe documents in a database.

An index

is a catalogue or register of the contents in a book or a database.

Try looking up words in the different types of dictionaries and discover the difference:

Dictionary (subject specific)
Technical dictionary

Film aboutsearching in Oxford Reference online (with sound):

Search for subject specific information in McGraw-Hill:

Search Britannica Online:

Eva Norling
2005-06-21

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

When you are searching a database with one search term you will often get a large number of search results. Even so many they become unmanageable to work through. You must then limit the search by adding more search terms, i.e. search for several terms at once.

Boolean operators

To limit the number of search results in a database search you use so called Boolean operators. They are AND, OR and NOT. In this illustration you can see how they work. The use of these operators depends on if the database supports them and how they are used. Because there is no standard for their use, you must find out how they work in the database you are currently using. Always study the help pages if you are not sure how the operators are used in a database. In many databases AND is automatically added between terms when you are entering several search terms in one field, e.g. in our own library catalogue. If you search for:
Management and leadership
Management leadership
The results are the same. Try this yourself in the library catalogue.

Crib

You must remember that AND is treated very differently in various databases and search engines, e.g. some use the plus sign + to mark AND. Click here for a list of operators used in different databases.

Phrase search

In some situations it can be practical to perform so called phrase searches. If you search for the title Truth or dare in the catalogue, you will get a result list that contain either of these words, but not necessarily both. If instead you search for “Truth or dare” with quotation marks you will get exactly that title. Then you have made a phrase search. The operator OR looses its function and is treated like any word in a title. In many databases quotation marks are used to mark phrase searches.

Truncation

Sometimes a search term can be too limiting by not including variants of endings. In that situation you need to truncate the word by shortening it and ending it with an asterisk*. If for example you are searching for astron* you will get the variants of astronaut, astronomer, astronomy etc.

Masking

Similarly you can mask letters to include spelling variants in the same search. It can also be used if you are not sure about the spelling of a term. Colo*r will retrieve documents with both British and American spellings, color and colour. Different signs are used for this function, e.g. *,? or $. Check the help pages of the database for the correct use.

Proximity operators

In some, more advanced databases, there is the possibility to use so called proximity operators. They can differ a little, but common variant are ADJ, NEAR and WITH. You need to check which operators are supported in the database you are searching. If for instance you are searching the medical database Medline for the disease diabetes mellitus and you enter diabetes adj mellitus you have stated that the words diabetes and mellitus should be placed next to each other in that order in the retrieved records.
Diabetes adj mellitus

Proximity operators in Medline

Adj (Adjacent)
Retrieves references where the search terms are next to each other in the given order.
Near
Retrieves references where the search terms are in the same sentence, but in any order.
With (Within)
Retrieves references where the search terms are in the same field, but in any order.

Try different search techniques:

Kent Pettersson
2005-06-22

There are many different ways to find information. If for instance you want to find material for a paper you might start by using a search engine like Google to search the Internet, but there are many other ways to find relevant information.

The choice of search strategy and what information sources you use is governed by your information need. In order perform a good information search you need to make preparations and be as systematic as possible, and in addition use more information sources than Internet search engines. In this part we will deal with some principles of structured information seeking by building a search strategy.

How to prepare your search

Define the problem

The starting point when seeking information is the definition of the search problem. You have made clear what you intend to write about and you have formulated the issues you plan to address.

Search terms and key words

The next step in the process is to choose the search terms or key words that best describe your topic or problem. The search terms are the words that you yourself use to describe the phenomenon and key words can be described as the terms an author has used to describe an article or a book. The choice of search terms may come naturally, but in more difficult cases, you can get help from dictionaries or encyclopedias. When you search a database, you can either use your own search terms or the key words you find in the index of the database. It is vital for the quality of the search result that you have used correct terms. Try to be rich in associations when you are trying to find search terms for a database search. If you can not find any information with one term, perhaps there is another that is more useful.

Language

There may be reasons to consider which language to use when searching. In medicine for example, Latin terms are often used. In computer science, the use of English terminology is common. Furthermore, the document itself may be written in a language that you can not read, even though the reference is in English.

Up-to-dateness

Another important aspect is to establish how old the information could be. In some fields only documents from the last few years will do, whereas in other fields, e.g. history, you can only use primary sources, which may often be several hundred years old.

Scope

Before you begin the actual search, you may also consider how much information you need to collect in order to solve the task. Sometimes you can be overwhelmed by the great amount of irrelevant information. This is especially a risk if you have not defined your problem clearly. On the other hand it might be valuable to start with a wider search and read up on the subject and then narrow the focus. The important thing is not to loose sight of the problem.

Scientific level

Consider what scientific level the information should have. It may not be practical to use a highly specialized thesis if you are just going to write a short introductory paper. On the other hand, that type of material may be vital when you are writing your master’s thesis or dissertation.

Choosing appropriate sources

Formal sources

What sources you use to find the information you need is of course of vital importance. A common distinction is made between formal and informal sources. Formal sources are central in scientific communication and can be said to sources that have been published in some form, e.g. as books, articles, reports, etc. The advantage of these sources is that you can relatively easily establish their quality, plus they are also easy to refer to, durable and accessible through libraries or archives.

Informal sources

Informal sources also have an important role in scientific communication. Examples of such sources may be news groups and blogs on the Internet, seminars and conferences, conversations with colleagues and experts etc. The great advantage of informal sources is that the information is distributed quickly, flexibly and it is often easily accessed. The disadvantage is that the information is not often scholarly reviewed and it may also be momentary and thereby difficult to refer to.

Primary- and secondary sources

Another common distinction is made between primary and secondary sources. Books, articles, dissertations, reports, etc. are examples of primary sources. Secondary sources are aids of different kinds that point to primary sources. Examples of such are bibliographies, reference databases, library catalogues etc. whose purpose is to facilitate the identification of primary sources.

Selecting sources

You should try to choose sources based on your subject area, for instance when choosing a secondary source, such as a reference database. Most often these are constructed for a specific subject area, e.g. Inspec for technology and Medline for medicine. If on the other hand you are searching a library catalogue you will find references to all sorts of subjects, but they offer other techniques for limiting the search result, e.g. subject word searches.

Document type

It is important to have some knowledge of what type of documents you could expect to find in a database. In a reference database such as Inspec, you will find references to documents that could be books, dissertations, articles in scientific journals etc., but in general you will not be able to access the full text of the document from the database. If instead you are searching a database like Summon@BTH, you will find journal articles in full text, i.e. both the reference and the article itself is in the database. If you search the database ebrary whole books are accessed via the computer. You simply need to decide what type of material you need for your assignment.

Searching databases

Choosing the appropriate database

As was stated above, it is vital for a successful search that you choose a suitable database. On the library web page there are guides for finding information resources in the subject areas you can study at BTH. There you will find recommendations for suitable information sources and databases.

Help pages

When you have chosen a database it is important that you study the table of contents and help pages. Unfortunately databases have different search interfaces and search facilities. This means you can not expect to use the search technique you are used to from one database in another. With the information from the help pages you can start using the database efficiently.

Thesaurus and index

One of the most important aids in an advanced database is its thesaurus and index. A thesaurus consists of controlled vocabulary, i.e. words that are chosen deliberately to describe a document. The terms that are used for description in the thesaurus are constant and are used repeatedly by the people who classify the documents in the database. In doing this the accuracy of the database is improved, since documents are always classified with the same words regardless of who is entering the document into the database. Using subject words from a thesaurus gives very relevant results in general. The index consists of key words, i.e. terms that for instance the author has assigned to the document. They are sometimes called unverified subject words. These terms are often very relevant as descriptions of the documents, and as opposed to the thesaurus, they allow a greater variation of terms. The disadvantage of unverified terms is that documents that have very similar content can be described differently depending on who assigns the terms.

Boolean operators

Most databases support searches with different operators. They are called Boolean and proximity operators. You can learn more about them in the part about search technique. When you have finished these preparations it is time to start searching. Analyze the result and possibly refine the search with more subject words or other terms if the ones you had chosen did not give a satisfactory result.

Search history

When you are making several searches in a database it is easy to forget which words you started searching with. In good databases there is often a function where you can see your search history. Base on your previous searches you can often refine the searches by combining them or by combining previous searches with new search terms.

Try out boolean logic:

Watch this power point about search strategy:

Kent Pettersson
2005-06-22