Mrs. Beaty’s English Class
Search Strategies
&
Resource Selection
Phillip Fitzsimmons
Reference and Digitization Librarian
Al Harris Library
phillip.fitzsimmons@swosu.edu
Do you feel like this guy when
deciding what resources to use
in an assignment?
The purpose of today’s
presentation is to help you
to discover what resources
to use.
Why Should You Use These Resources?
• These are the resources your professors
will want for you to use (and your teacher).
• The habit of using these resources will
contribute to your success as a student and
enrich your education.
• Using the best information resources
available to you will make you look smarter
and more professional throughout your life.
• Because it is fun and it feels good.
• If you need more, see number one.
Remember:
• Make sure you understand your assignment
completely. Plan ahead so that you satisfy all it
its requirements.
• Get most of the information for your
assignment through the Library Home Page.
• Use this session wisely. You will not be able to
access most of the resources remotely until you
are a SWOSU student, staff, or faculty.
• Use Web sites mostly for getting ideas, not as
sources for your assignment.
• When in doubt ask your Teacher.
Search Technique Number One:
Keywords
Identifying Keywords:
• Identify the significant terms and
concepts that describe your topic from
your thesis statement or research
question.
• These terms will become the key for
searching catalogs, databases, and
search engines for information about
your subject.
Keyword Phrases:
• Single concept, multiple words
• Some electronic resources require keyword
phrases be enclosed with punctuation
– Quotation marks – SWOSU Catalog
– Parentheses
Examples of Keyword Phrases:
• “Dental Hygienist”
• “Information Security
Analyst”
• “Game Design”
• “Robot Competitions”
• “Military Robots”
• “Cheetah Extinction”
Search Technique Number Two:
Basic Boolean
Boolean
• AND = Narrow
• OR = Expand
• NOT = Exclude
Boolean Operators
• Connect keywords only
• Must be placed between keywords
--AND
Narrows your search
--OR
Expands your search with synonymous terms
--NOT
– Excludes words from your search
– If used too much, it can work against you!
Breaking Search Down:
If you can’t find what you are looking for
break search phrases down:
• Baby Mammoth Mummy Frozen in
Time can be broken into Baby
Mammoth Mummy then Mammoth in
separate searches. You combine the
information from the two sources when
you write your paper.
• Try substituting terms that mean the
same thing.
The Resources:
Three Places for Resources:
Place
• Catalogs
Resources
Books
a. Print books on 2nd Floor.
b. Print reference books on 1st Floor.
c. Ebooks have links in the catalog.
• Databases
Articles
• Internet
Web Pages
Resource I: Books
• Al Harris Library holds 300,000 volumes. Use
the library catalog to find print and ebooks.
• We have more than 70,000 ebooks. They
are exactly like print books except they don’t
have to be checked out and can be read on
your computer. Many are about current
scientific topics.
• Books will provide information for the
scientific and social aspects of your topic.
Three Book Sources:
• Print books are found on the 2nd Floor.
• Ebooks are linked to catalog records.
• Books not owned by the library can be
gotten through interlibrary loan.
SWOSU Libraries Homepage: http://www.swosu.edu/library/
Use keyword and Boolean strategies when
searching the catalog:
Databases
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•
•
•
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Ebsco: Academic Search Complete
Biography Reference Center
Consumer Health Complete
Credo Reference
Environment Complete
Issues and Controversies
JSTOR Journal Archive
Military and Government Collection
Points of View Reference Center
Project Muse
PsycARTICLES
PsycINFO
SocINDEX with Full Text
Source III: Web sites
• Domain Names are the last letters at the end of web
addresses such as .org, .com, .edu, .gov.
• Including .edu or .gov in your Web search will
improve the quality of your search results by
retrieving only educational and government Web
sites.
Examples: Biofuels .gov , Biofuels .edu
• Consider the following Domain Names: .edu —
education, .gov —government, .biz — business,
.eu — European country, .in – India, .cn – China.
• For a dictionary of Domain Names go to:
http://www.techdictionary.com/domainlist.html.
Source III: Web sites
•
1.
Google Site Search:
2.
Use keyword and Site search strategies for finding
credible information on the Web.
Always be aware of the bias of each site.
•
Government sites
1.
2.
3.
Use USA.gov to find information in sites you do not
know about.
Use the bureau of labor statistics site at
http://bit.ly/1r1qGA8 for information about careers.
Use the Smithsonian site at http://www.si.edu/
And the USGS site http://www.usgs.gov/ at For science
information.
APA Citation Guides: Digital
• Citing Sources in MLA Style : Al Harris Library (SWOSU)
http://campusguides.swosu.edu/mlastyle
• OWL: Purdue Online Writing Lab
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
You can access these remotely without being a SWOSU
student.
Expectations When You are a College Student
• You will be responsible for knowing the
requirements of each of your classes and of
fulfilling those requirements as scheduled.
• If you have difficulties with school work you
will be responsible for seeking help from
your instructor, labs, and tutors.
• You will need to be extremely conscientious
about not plagiarizing when writing papers
and doing homework. Most colleges and
Universities use Turnitin to catch cheating.
• You will need to know how to find reliable
guides to help you with writing citations.
Recap:
1. The assignment: Know your assignment and
cover all of its requirements.
2. Search strategies: Keywords/Boolean
3. Apply strategies to resources
4. Places of resources:
 Catalogs, for Books
 Databases, for Articles
 Web, for Web sites
5. Contact me or any of the other librarians for
future help.
Questions?
• Contact me:
– Phillip Fitzsimmons
– 744-3030
phillip.fitzsimmons@swosu.edu