TABLE OF CONTENTS
SEARCHING THE WEB OPAC
2
ELECTRONIC BOOKS
4
How to search for e-books
4
ELECTRONIC JOURNALS
5
How to access e-journals
5
THE INTERNET
8
How to search the Internet effectively
8
Search engines
8
Keywords
8
Use of phrases
8
Punctuation and Capitalization
9
Boolean Searching
9
Evaluating Internet Information
10
THE ESSENTIAL ELECTRONIC AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY
12
How to access TEEAL
12
THE MSU INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY
14
How to access the Institutional Repository
14
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1. BASIC SEARCHING USING THE WEB OPAC
To perform a basic search, follow these steps:

Open your browser and in the address go to www.msu.ac.zw

On the MSU website, click on “Libraries” link

On the library website under the “Library Quick Links” section, click the “eCatalogue” link
The picture below shows you what you will see.
Search Box
Drop down Search options box
Login Fields
The Web Opac Interface

In the drop down menu click to show more search options, e.g. you can choose to
search by Title, Author Subject etc.

To search a book by title, choose the Title option e.g. “Corporate governance” and
hit the “Go” button and you will be taken to the screen on the following page.
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Book Jacket
The Web Opac results page
Take note of the following:
1. This first page of the results will show you the number of hits or results
Search Results
2. On the right hand side against each result, you can actually view the book jacket, if it
is available
3. Under each result you are given information regarding to the number of copies for
each book, its location, date of publication, publisher and the author.
To get to the full details of the book, click on the title of the book, e.g. we are going to click on
“Corporate governance” by NORDBERG, Donald and the screen below appears.
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Location and call number of the book
The important thing is to take down the call number and take note of the location of the
book.
2. ELECTRONIC BOOKS
Electronic books, commonly referred to as e-books are electronic versions of printed books and
they are generally available through the Internet or on CD-ROM
2.1
How to Access Electronic Books (e-books)
To search for electronic books that are available in the MSU Libraries use the following
steps:
▪
Go to the MSU Home Page http://www.msu.ac.zw
▪
Click on “Libraries” link
▪
Under the “Library Quick Links” section click on the “eBooks” link. You will be taken
a page that lists all subscription based e-books and open access e-books. Under each
e-book database, there is a description that will show you the subject areas covered
in that database.
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▪
Click on the e-book collection of your choice.
For Fulltext access, follow the instructions on the screen for each of the e-book database that you have
chosen.
3. ELECTRONIC JOURNALS
3.1
How to Access Electronic Journals
To access the Electronic Journal Databases that are available through the MSU Libraries
use the following steps:
3.2
▪
Go to the MSU Home Page http://www.msu.ac.zw
▪
Click on “Libraries” link
▪
On the library page, click on the “e-Journals”
▪
The e-Journals page lists all the electronic journals that you can access and under
each journal database there is a description of the subject areas covered by that
database.
▪
Choose a journal of your choice according to your needs.
▪
You can browse for more journals by clicking on the progress numbers at the
bottom of the page.
Using the Federated Search Engine
The federated search engine is used to search all e-journals at once using a single search
term. It is a great time saver and it produces more results from all e-journals subscribed
by MSU. To perform a federated search, follow these simple steps:
1. Go to the MSU home page http://www.msu.ac.zw
2. Click on the “Libraries” link.
3. On the library page under the “Library Links” section, click on the “search all
databases” link.
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The Federated Search Interface
Federated search box
4. Input your search terms for example “Marketing mix” and click the “Search” button
Your results will appear as follows:

Each result will show you the title of the article

A summary, and

The database name
You can now open results of your choice by clicking the title links.
The figure below shows you in detail how the results are rendered.
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Results
Results from the federated search engine
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4. THE INTERNET
4.1
How to Search the Internet Effectively
The Internet can be searched using different tools such as search engines and subject
directories.
4.2
Search Engines
Haag Stephen (2004) defines a search engine as a facility on the web that enables
individuals to find web sites by providing key words or questions. Internet search
engines can search enormous databases of Web pages, using titles, keywords or text.
Some of the search engines are:
4.3

Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com

Google http://www.google.com

Ask Jeeves http://www.askjeeves.com

Dogpile http://www.dogpile.com

Excite http://www.excite.com

Infoseek http://www.infoseek.com

Lycos http://www.lycos.com
Getting Started
Before doing a search, it's important to define your topic as completely and as clearly as
possible. Write down exactly what information you're looking for, why you're looking for
it, and what you're not looking for. This will help you to discover the best keywords for
your search.
4.4
Keywords
You can effectively search the Internet using keywords from your research question. It is
recommended that you avoid verbs and use modifiers only when they help to be more
precise in your search - as in "information literacy" rather than just "literacy."
4.5
Use of Phrases
Your most powerful keyword combination is the phrase. Phrases are combinations of
two or more words that must be found in the documents you're searching for in the
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EXACT order shown. You enter a phrase - such as "information systems" - into a search
engine, within quotation marks.
Some searches provide specific options for phrases, while others don't allow them at all;
but most will allow you to enter a phrase in quotation marks. Check the "Help" files of
the search engine you're using to be sure what it accepts.
4.6
Punctuation and Capitalization
Another way to get results that are relevant to your information need is to use
quotation marks. For instance if your searching for Academic Libraries in Zimbabwe,
you will get more relevant results if you enclose the search terms in quotation marks
than if you do not e.g. “Academic Libraries”.
Please also note that most search engines are insensitive to case: you can type your
queries in uppercase, lowercase, or a mix of cases. If you use lowercase, most engines
will match on both upper and lower case; so for general searches, lowercase is the
safest form to use.
Not all search engines handle punctuation the same way. When in doubt, consult the
"Help" file.
4.7
Boolean Searching
"Boolean" searching (named after George Boole, the 19th-century mathematician who
founded the field of symbolic logic) is a powerful technique that can narrow your search
to a reasonable number of results, and increase the chance of those results being
useful. Boolean searches are simple to learn and tremendously effective. The three
most commonly used Boolean commands (or "operators") are AND, OR and NOT.
AND means "I want only documents that contain both/all words." For instance, the
search "Harare" AND "First Street Mall" AND "Bulawayo" AND "Africa Unity Square"
would return only documents that contained all four keywords or phrases. AND is the
most frequently used Boolean command.
OR means "I want documents that contain either word; I don't care which." The query
"Harare" OR "Bulawayo" OR "First Street Mall" OR "Africa Unity Square" would return all
documents that contained even one of these four keywords or phrases. Use OR to string
together synonyms; be careful about mixing it with AND.
AND NOT means "I want documents that contain this word, but not if the document
also contains another word." The query "Harare" AND "Bulawayo" AND NOT "Africa
Unity Square" would return documents that include Harare and Bulawayo, but not those
that also include Africa Unity Square. Remember that AND NOT only applies to the word
or phrase that immediately follows it.
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Most search engines support the AND NOT command. It is sometimes called BUT NOT
or NOT, and is sometimes indicated by placing a minus sign (-) before the term or phrase
to be removed. (Check the search tips of the engine you're using to see which form of
AND NOT it accepts). Before you apply AND NOT, see what results you get from a
simpler search. AND NOT is a great way to weed out results you don't want, such as
pornography.
4.8
Quick Tips

Use nouns as query keywords. Never use articles ("a," "the"), pronouns ("he," "it"),
conjunctions ("and," "or") or prepositions ("to," "from") in your queries

Use 6 to 8 keywords per query

Where possible, combine keywords into phrases by using quotation marks, as in
"solar system"

Spell carefully, and consider alternate spellings where necessary

Avoid redundant terms

Check the "Help" function of the particular search engine you're using, since they all
have their own quirks and preferences
A successful Internet search can take several tries. But remember: it's estimated that
there are between 200 and 800 million documents online - with no master system for
organizing this information! No wonder effective searches take know-how, patience and
ingenuity.
5. EVALUATING INTERNET INFORMATION
The web provides access to a plethora of information. Information put on the internet cannot be
regulated to verify its truthfulness, accuracy or timeliness. Anyone can setup a website and
within a week he can post whatever he wants. It is important to cite from authoritative
information sources. In this section, we are going to look at some of the criteria that is used to
evaluate a website.
5.2 Authority/Author
Who is responsible for the page, is an individual or organization? What are the
qualifications? Can they be contacted? Is the author/publisher affiliated with an educational
institution, a government department, a commercial company, a non-profit organization?
Check at the footer of the web page to see if this information is there.
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5.3 Objectives
You need to find out why the website was created. Is the site scholarly, commercial or
personal?
Is the author trying to sell something, persuade you to think in a certain way or is he trying
to inform you?
5.4 Currency
Is the information on the page up to date? Does the page tell you when the page was
updated or edited? Are there dead links?
5.5 Coverage/Scope
What is the focus of the site? Are there clear headings to illustrate an outline of the
content? Is the navigation within the website clear?
Check the header for a clear title and web site description
Check the content for headings and keywords
Check the navigation to reflect content outline within the web site
5.6 Biases and Affiliations
Check the content for statement of purpose and to determine the type of web site and
potential audience.
Check the URL is it a .gov, .com, .net or .org
Also check for graphics and cues for affiliations e.g. logos
5.7 Clarity
Is the text neat, legible and formatted for easy reading?
Is the information clearly presented?
If there are graphics, do they add to the content or distract?
If there are advertisements, do they interfere with your ability to use the page?
Are the pages well organized?
Are there mistakes in spelling or word usage?
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6. THE ESSENTIAL ELECTRONIC AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY (TEEAL)
The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library (TEEAL) is an entirely self-contained compilation of
the most important journal literature in agriculture and related fields. It covers the following
subject fields:










6.1
Agricultural economics
Aquaculture
Crop and soil science
Food science and nutrition
Livestock production
Microbiology
Natural resource management
Plant protection
Rural development
Veterinary medicine
How to Access the TEEAL Databases
There are dedicated computers at all Electronic Resource Centres that you can use to
search and retrieve full text documents.
To access TEAL please follow the guidelines given below:

Click Start – All Programs – TEEAL – LanTEEAL 2.0

Alternatively, click on the desktop shortcut LanTEEAL 2.0

The program will launch the default browser and the interface looks like the picture
below.
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Search Box
Subject Fields
6.2
Searching the TEEAL Databases

Type your search terms into the search box e.g. “environmental degradation”

Click on the Find it button

Your search results will appear like in the picture below
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Abstract
First result
2nd result
Full text Link to pdf

Each result will give you article title, author(s), an abstract, and a full text link

All results are rendered in pdf format.
LanTEEAL also enables you to browse the journal titles in the collection
7. THE MSU INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY
The Midlands State University Institutional Repository is a digital archive of scholarly works
produced by the MSU Community. Its purpose is to collect, preserve and disseminate the
academic research output from the Midlands State University Community. The current works
include Research Papers, the MSU Dyke Journal, Dissertations and Past Examination Papers.
Please kindly contact makekee@msu.ac.zw or chigwagwap@msu.ac.zw for submissions.
7.1
How to Access the Institutional Repository
▪
Go to the MSU Home Page http://www.msu.ac.zw
▪
Click on the “Libraries” link
▪
Click on the “ Institutional Repository” link
The picture below shows you Institutional Repository interface.
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Search boxes
The MSU Institutional Repository (IR) Interface
Collections in the IR
There are several ways you can use to documents articles from the (IR).
1. You can click on individual collections and browse the documents within that collection.
2. You can use the left navigation bar to select documents by:
 Issue Date
 Author
 Title
 Subject
3. You can perform the actual search using any of the search boxes shown in the above
figure.
BASIC SEARCHING
Follow these simple steps to search the MSU Institutional Repository. We are going to
search for documents that deal with “politics”.
1. In any of the search boxes shown above, type “politics”
2. Click on the “Go” button to execute the search.
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You will be taken to the following page.
Authors
The Results page
We are going to use the first result.
3. Click on the first result. You will be taken to the page below.
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Search Results
Title page of an article.
Links to fulltext
4. Click on any of the links to Fulltext and depending on the settings of your computer,
you will be prompted to either save the file or open the document.
NB: Most articles in the IR are in pdf format so make sure your computer has any of the pdf
readers.
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