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Mini slideshow for use in web pages at http://www.dur.ac.uk/library/research/findinginfo/
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Constructing your search
Connectors, wildcards, truncation and proximity connectors
James Bisset james.bisset@durham.ac.uk Academic Liaison Librarian (Research Support)
Part 1 Intelligent Searching
Intelligent Searching
Broaden your search
and then
Narrow your search
Intelligent Searching
Broaden your search
Cast your net wide to ensure you don’t miss any potentially
useful search terms
Intelligent Searching
Narrow your searchMake sure they are the right
nets you’re casting - you only want to return those results
which are most relevant to, let the others “swim free”
Part 2
Broaden your
search
Broaden your search (1)
Broaden your search (1)
butterfly lepidoptera
Using “OR”: butterfly OR lepidoptera
Broaden your search (1)
butterfly lepidoptera
… will return all results which include either the term “butterfly” or the term “lepidoptera”, as well as all results which mention both terms.
Broaden your search (1)
Most databases assume if you don’t include the “OR” connector, you only want results where
ALL of the terms entered appear.
Broaden your search (1)
Most databases assume if you don’t include the “OR” connector, you only want results where
ALL of the terms entered appear.
e.g.
“If you want to search for pages that may have just one of several words, include OR
(capitalized) between the words. Without the OR, your results would typically show only
pages that match both terms”https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/136861?hl=en
Broaden your search (2)
Broaden your search (2)
Via Flickr Creative Commons, by Pink Sherbert Photography. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/70873497@N02/6935006104/
The problems of spelling…
Broaden your search (2)
Via Flickr Creative Commons, by Pink Sherbert Photography. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/70873497@N02/6935006104/
The problems of spelling…
Donut
Doughnut
Broaden your search (2)
• Broadening your search– Alternative spellings (wildcard
searching)– organi?ation will find:
organisation and alternative lettersorganization
Broaden your search (2)
• Broadening your search– Alternative spellings (wildcard
searching)– organi?ation will find:
organisation and alternative lettersorganization
– labo?r will find: labor and missing letters labour
Broaden your search (2)
• Broadening your search– Alternative spellings (wildcard searching)
– organi?ation will find: organisation and alternative lettersorganization
– labo?r will find: labor and missing letters labour– d?nut donut and multiple missing letters doughnut
Broaden your search (3)
Broaden your search (3)
• Broadening your search– Word stems (truncation searching)– negligen* will find:
Broaden your search (3)
• Broadening your search– Word stems (truncation searching)– negligen* will find:
“the police were accused of negligence”
Broaden your search (3)
• Broadening your search– Word stems (truncation searching)– negligen* will find:
“the police were accused of negligence”“the police were accused of acting negligently”
Broaden your search (3)
• Broadening your search– Word stems (truncation searching)– negligen* will find:
“the police were accused of negligence”“the police were accused of acting negligently”“the police were accused of being negligent”
Broaden your search
• Broadening your search - Summary– The Boolean “OR” connector butterfly OR
lepidoptera– Wildcards organi?ation
labo?r – Word stems negligen*
Terminology and symbols vary, depending on which database or catalogue you are using
Part 3
Narrow your
search
Narrow your search (1)
Using “AND”: term 1 AND term 2
teenage
“substance
abuse”
Narrow your search (1)
Using “AND”: teenage AND “substance abuse"
AND
Narrow your search (1)
teenage
“substance
abuse”
… will return only those results which include both the term “teenage” and the phrase
“substance abuse”
AND
Narrow your search (1)
Some databases will assume an “AND”
between two terms even if you don’t include it...
Narrow your search (1)
Some databases will assume an “AND”
between two terms even if you don’t include it...
... but not all.
Narrow your search (1)
Examples include:
Power Search: Requires use of ‘AND’ connector. If not included, searches for
terms appearing as a phrase.
Including the ‘AND’ connector “combines search terms so that each
search result contains all of the terms”. Not including runs a search against an account default setting (At Durham, this is “appearing within 5 words of”)http://support.ebsco.com.ezphost.dur.ac.uk/help/
index.php?help_id=35
Narrow your search (1)
Get in to the habit of using it.
Narrow your search (1)
Get in to the habit of using it.
1) Avoid mistakes.
Narrow your search (1)
Get in to the habit of using it.
1) Avoid mistakes. 2) Make cutting & pasting your search between databases easier.
Narrow your search (2)
Via Flickr Creative Commons, by the waving cat. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewavingcat/138657496/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Adding context:
Narrow your search (2)
Adding context:
truthAND
reconciliationVia Flickr Creative Commons, by the waving cat. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewavingcat/138657496/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Narrow your search (2)
Adding context:Will return results where both terms appear...
Via Flickr Creative Commons, by the waving cat. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewavingcat/138657496/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Narrow your search (2)
Adding context:Will return results where both terms appear... Anywhere.
Via Flickr Creative Commons, by the waving cat. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewavingcat/138657496/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Narrow your search (2)
Adding context:Will return results where both terms appear... Anywhere. They could appear several pages apart and be unrelated.
Via Flickr Creative Commons, by the waving cat. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewavingcat/138657496/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Narrow your search (2)
Some databases will allow you to use a proximity connector...
Via Flickr Creative Commons, by the waving cat. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewavingcat/138657496/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Narrow your search (2)
Some databases will allow you to use a proximity connector... ... to only return results where “term 1” appears within # words of “term 2”
Via Flickr Creative Commons, by the waving cat. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewavingcat/138657496/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Narrow your search (2)
Adding context:
truthwithin #
reconciliationVia Flickr Creative Commons, by the waving cat. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewavingcat/138657496/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Narrow your search (2)
• Narrowing your search– Proximity Truth within 3
reconciliation
Narrow your search (2)
• Narrowing your search– Proximity Truth within 3
reconciliation
Narrow your search (3)
• Narrowing your search– Phrase searching Truth and Reconciliation
Commission
Narrow your search (3)
• Narrowing your search– Phrase searching “Truth and Reconciliation
Commission”
Narrow your search (3)
• Narrowing your search– Phrase searching “Truth and Reconciliation
Commission”
Narrow your search (3)
• Narrowing your search– Phrase searching “Truth and Reconciliation
Commission”
Narrow your search (3)
• Narrowing your search– Excluding irrelevant results NOT
South Africa
Narrow your search (3)
• Narrowing your search– Excluding irrelevant results NOT
South Africa
Be careful with the NOT connector.
Narrow your search (3)
• Narrowing your search– Excluding irrelevant results NOT South Africa
Be careful with the NOT connector. It might exclude results which offer a comparison, or include the excluded term in just a reference or footnote, which may still be of interest.
Narrow your search
• Broadening your search - Summary– The “AND” connector repository AND
open access– Proximity searching negligen* w/5 police– Phrase searching “duty of care”– Excluding terms property NOT
intellectual
Narrow your search
• Broadening your search - Summary– The “AND” connector repository AND
open access– Proximity searching negligen* w/5 police– Phrase searching “duty of care”– Excluding terms property NOT
intellectual
Terminology and symbols vary, depending on which database or catalogue you are using...
No standard language
Truth within 5 words reconciliation
Truth w/5 reconciliation
Truth /5 reconciliation
Truth N5 reconciliation
Truth adj5 reconciliation
Part 4 Pulling it all together -
example
Example
Examining the impact of crime
enacted by teenagers in the
inner city
Identify your key concepts
Example
Examining the impact of crime
enacted by teenagers in the
inner city
teenagers crime inner city
Identify your keywords
These should describe, or focus on a particular
aspect of each concept.
Think about alternative words, spellings and
terminology.
Identify your keywords
These should describe, or focus on a particular
aspect of each concept.
Think about alternative words, spellings and
terminology.
Identify your keywords
These should describe, or focus on a particular
aspect of each concept.
Think about alternative words, spellings and
terminology.
teenagers
youth
juvenile
adolescent
crime inner city
teenagers
youth
juvenile
adolescent
crime
shoplifting
Anti-social behaviour
theft
inner city
teenagers
youth
juvenile
adolescent
crime
shoplifting
Anti-social behaviour
theft
inner city
urban
cities
London
Construct your search
Think about wildcards, truncation and phrase
searching
Construct your search
Think about wildcards, truncation and phrase
searching
teen*
youth
juvenile
adolescen*
crim*
shoplift*
“Anti-social behavio?r”
theft
“inner city”
urban
cities
London
Construct your search
Link your terms with appropriate connectors
Example
teen* OR youth OR juvenile OR adolescen*
Example
(teen* OR youth OR juvenile OR adolescen*)AND
(crim* OR shoplift* OR “anti-social behavio?r” OR theft)
AND(“inner city”OR urban OR cities OR London)
(teen* OR youth OR juvenile OR adolescen*)
(“inner city”OR urban OR cities
OR London)
(crim* OR shoplift* OR “anti-social
behavio?r” OR theft)
(teen* OR youth OR juvenile OR adolescen*)
(“inner city”OR urban OR cities
OR London)
(crim* OR shoplift* OR “anti-social
behavio?r” OR theft)
Only this subset of results
returned as the most relevant.
Evaluate your search
Are you getting the results you expected?
Evaluate your search
Are you getting the reuslts you expected?
Can the results returned inform your search
further?
Evaluate your search
Are you getting the reuslts you expected?
Can the results returned inform your search
further?Identify new keywords?
Key authors? Focus in on a specific topic or aspect?
Additional Image Credits
[Slide 3] Via Flickr Creative Commons, by Stefan. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/49462908@N00/3951143570
[Slide 6] Via Flickr Creative Commons, by Keoni Cabral. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/52193570@N04/5132652314
[Slide 24] Via Flickr Creative Commons, by Rob Ellis. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/45597153@N05/5325015118
[Slide 54] Via Flickr Creative Commons, by Liza31337. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/85763206@N00/2944354763
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