Tools to Overcome Query BlockTools to Overcome Query Block

Paul B. Barron

George C. Marshall Research Library

Copyright 2011: All Rights Reserved

Copies may be made for educational use only.

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Objective of the Presentation

Inform and demonstrate methods to find search terms that

are the vocabulary of the profession

Finding a glossary or dictionary of specialized terms using:

Google, Internet Public Library, and the ERIC Thesaurus

Introduce the Glossarist, a directory of glossaries

Finding search terms using:

the Touchgraph SEO Browser to find related search terms

WikiMindmap to build a visually display of search terms

the Law Library of Congress’ Global Legal Information Network

Subject Term Index

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Objective of the Presentation

This is not a lecture!

Share what you have

learned on how to

deal with this challenge.

Query Block precedes Writer’s Block, both which

cause STRESS for students.

Recommend other sites.

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Why use a glossary?

Provides terms that are the

vocabulary of a topic or profession

Properly defines the term within the context

of a topic or profession Define the term gifted?

Improves a student’s vocabulary

Provides a path to locate other relevant terms for

searching

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Glossaries provide terms sui generis to a topic.

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The Problem

“The prevalence of Google in student research is well-

documented, but Illinois researchers found something they

did not expect: students were not very

good at using Google.”

“They were clueless about how the search

engine organizes and displays its results.”

“Consequently, the students did not know how to build a

search that would return good sources.” What Students Don’t Know

Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries Project

Inside Higher Ed (http://tinyurl.com/3m6yyhp)

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Queries by Middle School Students

“A predominate difficulty students experience while performing

Web-based research is constructing effective search strings.”

“[M]iddle school students demonstrate

unsophisticated skills when constructing

search strings, using mainly broad terms

and phrases.”“Internet Searching by K-12 Students: A Research-based Process Model”

http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/a8/26.pdf

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Queries by High School Students

“[H]igh school students

struggle with conceptualizing

the topic for their query, sometimes omitting

required concepts.”“Internet Searching by K-12 Students: A Research-based Process Model”

http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/a8/26.pdf

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Queries by College Students

“[S]earch engines generally performed poorly, a lack

of computer skills and an inability

to construct appropriate search

statements limited students'

success.”

Nowicki, Stacy.

Student vs. Search Engine: Undergraduates Rank Results for Relevance

portal: Libraries and the Academy - Volume 3, Number 3, July 2003

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Effectiveness of Keyword Searching

“Keyword-based search works well if the users

know exactly what they want and formulate queries

with the “right words.”

“It does not help much and is

sometimes even hopeless if the users

only have vague concepts about what

they are asking.”Toward Topic Search on the Web

Microsoft ResearchMarch 2011

http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=145837

Let’s go see the librarian.

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What Google Knows

“We find that searchers turn so

quickly to Google that they don't think

about what they're searching for. It's

surprising, we'll see people trying to find out something

about a topic, but never mention the topic.”

The Art of the Field Study

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/art-of-field-study.html

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Finding a Glossary with Google

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The Glossary of Specialized Terms

Flaming: Sending angry, rude, or obscene messages directed at a person or persons privately or an online group. A “flamewar” erupts when “flames” are sent back and forth between individuals repeatedly.

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Reconstruction and Civil War

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Homework!

Try these searches in Google

“human rights” AND glossary AND site:un.org

Are all the results from the United Nations?

“climate change” AND glossary AND site:gov

Are all the results from the Environmental

Protection Agency?

“legislative terms” AND glossary AND Senate

AND site:gov

Are all the results from a .gov site?

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Glossarist (www.glossarist.com)

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CAUTIONThere are “dead links”

in the database.

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Internet Public Library (www.ipl.org)

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RECOMMENDATIONSearch for dictionary of (topic) terms; for example, dictionary of visual art terms refines the query and locates ……………………….

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Search Result – ArtLex

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And do the same for …

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RECOMMENDATIONSearch for glossary of (topic); for example, glossary of Medieval art refines the query and locates ….

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Glossary of Medieval Art from pitt.edu

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Definition, Image & other Search Terms

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The ERIC Thesaurus

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http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/thesaurus/thesaurus.jsp

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Search Results for gifted

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Recommendation

Ensure you read

the Scope Note.

OBSERVATION

Researchers fail to find relevant

resources in ERIC is because they

did not use the thesaurus to find

descriptors and to properly define

their search terms.

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TouchGraph SEO

The TouchGraph Google Browser reveals the network of connectivity

between websites, as reported by Google's database of related

(similar) sites.

http://www.touchgraph.com/seo

NOTE

Touchgraph is powered by Google and supports

Google’s advanced search syntaxes.

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TouchGraph Search Template

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Related Searches

Let’s expand the “renewable energy” results to find “types

of renewable energy.”

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Types of Renewable Energy

Let’s review the results for “wave energy.”

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Wave Energy Search Results

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wikimindmap (http://www.wikimindmap.org)

Mind map that provides a “structured and easy

understandable overview of the topic you are looking for.”

Understanding the limits of Wikipedia, this tool is useful as

a search term generator.

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From the Founder of WIKIPEDIA

“For God sake, you’re in college; don’t

cite the encyclopedia.”Jimmy Wales

Wikipedia Founder Discourages Academic Use of His Creation

The Chronicle of Higher Education

http://tinyurl.com/lxhxo

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Mind Map Results for “climate change”

To move the mind map, press and hold the left mouse button.

NOTE

Ensure that you select en.wikipedia.org

Student Research Query: “climate change”

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Expanding the Mind Map: From Causes to …

Student Research Query: “climate change” AND causes

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… Human Influences

Student Research Query “climate change” AND causes AND “human influences”

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… to Fossil Fuel

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Student Research Query “climate change” AND causes AND “human influences” AND “fossil fuel”

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Research Query

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Student Research Query

“climate change” AND causes AND “human influences”

AND “fossil fuel” AND inurl:gov

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Search Results

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Centering (Changing) a Topic with

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Global Warming Brought to Center

Note how the complexity of the mindmap increased with

the selection of global warming as the central topic.

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LOC Authorities & Vocabularies

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Searching for Copyright

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Search Results

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Fair Use (Copyright) Details

Problem

Where is the definition for copyright and for fair use?

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Visualization

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Defining Copyright & Fair Use

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Fair Use as Defined by the Courts

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GLIN Subject Term Index

Global Legal Information Network Source – Law Library of Congress

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http://www.glin.gov/subjectTermIndex.action

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Search for Global Warming

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NOTEScope defines the term.

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Constructing a Query for Google

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intitle:"climate change" AND "greenhouse

gases" AND deforestation AND site:gov

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Summation Glossaries and dictionary of terms provide terms that are the vocabulary of

the profession.

Searching for terms:

Google (Students like it!), followed by the directories

Students need guidance with IPL

WikiMindmap and Touchgraph are visual and “cool!”

Library of Congress sites are more difficult to master.

ERIC Thesaurus – Share with your colleagues.

PLEASE contact: nyffenegger@ nova-innovation.com (WKM) and

alex@touchgraph.com and thank them for what they have provided.

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