How do I develop a search strategy? Cumberland County College Library How do I develop a search strategy?

Developing a Strategy What’s a Search Strategy? Take your topic and… DETERMINE what you want to know. DEVELOP a hypothesis. DECIDE what are the best keywords. DESIGN a plan to find relevant information. You can use a search strategy in any database or in search engine. It is a skill—you have to practice and adapt. Helps you make a blueprint for searching your topic. In the end, if efficient will save you time because you have what you need up-front. On DECIDE– explain what a keyword is. © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 1 DETERMINE what you want to know. Decide on your topic! Let’s look at: BULLYING Worksheet © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 1 DETERMINE what you want to know. Be specific! What do we want to know about bullying? I want to know if bullying contributes to mental illness. Worksheet © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 2 DEVELOP a hypothesis. What do you think you’ll find? What do you think is the answer? I think that… Bullying does contribute to mental illness. Have the students tell you what they think the result of their research will be. Worksheet © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 3 DECIDE what are my best keywords? What are my KEYWORDS? Let’s start with the most important words in my sentence. I want to know if bullying contributes to mental illness. Worksheet © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 3 DECIDE what are my best keywords? Let’s think about our words: First, let’s look at BULLYING. What are some synonyms, antonyms and related terms? What are the issues or subjects in my topic? Explain synonym and related term. © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 3 DECIDE what are my best keywords? BULLYING What types of bullying are there? Where does it happen? Why are people bullied? CYBERBULLYING WORKPLACE SEXUAL HARASSMENT SCHOOL HAZING SOCIAL MEDIA FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM HIGH SCHOOL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MIDDLE SCHOOL COLLEGE BODY TYPE DISABILITIES RACE/ETHNICITY/CULTURE RELIGION/FAITH GENDER SEXUAL ORIENTATION Have them give you keywords. Add keywords to worksheet. © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 3 DECIDE what are my best keywords? Let’s think about our words: Now, let’s look at MENTAL ILLNESS. What are some synonyms, antonyms and related terms? What are the issues or subjects in my topic? © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 3 DECIDE what are my best keywords? MENTAL ILLNESS What are some types of mental illness? What are some of the consequences of mental illness? DEPRESSION ANXIETY POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) JOB PERFORMANCE MORALE, PRODUCTIVITY ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE GRADES, ATTENDANCE INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS FRIENDSHIP, ROMANTIC, FAMILY SELF-HARMING BEHAVIOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE, SELF-MUTILATION/CUTTING, SUICIDE Have them give you the keywords. Add keywords to worksheet. © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 4 DESIGN a plan to find information. How do we combine our terms? We will use “search operators”: AND OR Explain search operator: Search operator is a tool that tells the database how to look for your words. It allows you to search multiple keywords and defines your question. © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 4 DESIGN a plan to find information. AND When you use AND, you only get results that include all of your keywords. AND lets you narrow the search. Explain AND © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 4 DESIGN a plan to find information. AND looks like this: MENTAL ILLNESS BULLYING Explain Venn Diagram – Where AND terms fall. AND © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 4 DESIGN a plan to find information. What are two keywords we can combine with AND? _______________AND______________ MENTAL ILLNESS BULLYING Have them combine keywords. Worksheet CYBERBULLYING DEPRESSION © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 4 DESIGN a plan to find information. OR When you use OR, you get results that include at least one of your keywords. OR lets you broaden your search. Explain OR © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 4 DESIGN a plan to find information. OR looks like this: OR BULLYING CYBERBULLYING Explain Venn Diagram – Show where OR is. © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

Developing a Strategy: Step 4 DESIGN a plan to find information. What are two keywords we can combine with OR? _______________OR______________ BULLYING CYBERBULLYING Have them combine terms. Worksheet SEXUAL HARASSMENT WORKPLACE BULLYING © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016

To the databases! Cumberland County College Library Website Let’s Try It! To the databases! Cumberland County College Library Website Go to the library website Show how to get to databases Explain off-campus access In EBSCO, perform a search with just bullying. Number of results? Perform one of the AND searches they came up with. Number of results? Perform one of the OR searches that they came up with. Number of results? Compare the three. Pick an article. Show the relevant bibliographic portions and show the tools. © Cumberland County Library: Spring 2016