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Produced for use as an example (not exemplary) of different presentation styles for a library study skills course at Central College Nottingham.
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Information Retrieval & Evaluation (1)Planning & Running an Information Search
Research is not just academic
Finding a phone number
Ordering a takeaway
Selecting a broadband provider
Joining a gym
Information-seeking
Think about a time recently when you were looking for information.
How did you identify that you needed information?
What did you do to find the information you required (if you were successful!)?
When did you stop looking?
The research cycle
Can you map your
example onto this structure?
Plan
Run the search
Retrieve results
Evaluate the
results
Save the
results
Modify and re-run the search
Beginning your search
Where do you begin?
Library…
Course guide…
Interact pages…
Or Google?
Plan
Planning a searchWhat is your research question?
How else could you ask it?
Could it be broken down to smaller questions?
Does the question‟s verb inform your approach?
What level and quality of information is needed?
Do you need up-to-date or historical sources?
Plan
Information sources
Anywhere you find information can be called a source. But some sources are not as reliable as others.
Match the information sources to their strengths and weaknesses.
Think about how these strengths can be used for an assignment, and what you could do to compensate for the weaknesses.
Plan
Unreliable sources
Anonymous authors
Bias in information provided
Unsupported or out-of-date information
Heavy usage of non-academic style
Populist or sensational focus
This applies to magazines as well as certain websites…
Plan
Planning your search
Devise a search plan for the topic using what has been discussed in this session. You can use the grid provided or create your own layout.
Plan
Searching sources
Searching online and with databases
Search operators („Boolean‟)
“Phrase searching”
Advanced search options
Run the search
Retrieve results
Searching sources
Browse-searching of collected materials
Dewey classes and library collections
Subject headings
Interact page
Run the search
Retrieve results
Searching sources
Additional features on Google*
Google Scholar – window into the „hidden web‟
Search using images and sound
Tailored results for specific subjects (e.g. filmographies and cinema listings)
Search alerts for any search
Run the search
Retrieve results
* Other search engines are available. They‟re just not as good.
Sorting results
No quick answer, but the following help:
„Sort by date‟ brings up-to-date information to the top of the search list
„Sort by relevancy‟ will order the results according to what the program thinks you want using complex „learning‟ algorithms.
„Sort by availability‟ removes inaccessible sources from the search list, reducing wasted time trying to access them.
Run the search
Retrieve results
Common retrieval problems
I‟ve got 5m results - information overload!
your search is too broad. Filter, sort or start again
I‟ve got no results!
Your search is too narrow. Re-calibrate your filters and try broader or alternate terms
I‟ve found something which looks good, but can‟t get to read it!
If it is an SNC library item, reserve it
If you found it using Google, check our subscriptions
Check if you could read it with walk-in access at the local universities
It may involve extra work, but a key source can make the difference between a good grade and a great one!
Run the search
Retrieve results
The research cycle
Plan
Run the search
Retrieve results
Evaluate the
results
Save the
results
Modify and re-run the search
