Search strategy quiz Nancy Graham Learning Advisor (Medicine) July 2006

Why should you use a search strategy? 1.To focus your searching 2.To ensure you will find relevant material 3.To save you time when searching databases 4.All of the above 10

No. 4 is correct Before you begin searching a subject database for relevant material for your assignment it is crucial to plan your search, as you might plan a shopping list. Focusing your search topic, thinking of a list of keywords and limits will save you time and help you find highly relevant material.

Using a search engine such as Google to search for items on “The depletion of the ozone layer and the impact on health”, you would use the words: 1.Impact, depletion, ozone layer, health 2.Ozone layer, health 3.Ozone layer 4.Skin cancer, ozone layer 5.None of the above 6.Don’t know 10

No.1 is correct Picking out and using only the main keywords will make your searches more efficient.

You have to write a paper on the “treatment of depression”. Which search strategy would find the least number of documents: 1.Depression and psychotherapy 2.Depression or psychotherapy or antidepressants 3.Depression and psychotherapy and antidepressants 4.Depression 5.Don’t know 10

No.3 is correct By adding more keywords to your search using AND you are narrowing the amount of articles you will bring up. In contrast, using OR will broaden your search.

If you wanted to search for documents with the words cancer, cancerous or cancers what would you type in the search box? 1.Cancer, cancerous OR cancers 2.Cancer, cancerous AND cancers 3.Cancer* 4.Cancer AND cancerous AND cancers 10

No. 3 is correct By shortening a word to it’s stem (truncation) and adding a wildcard symbol the database will look for articles including cancer plus any endings. This not only saves you having to type in each ending, but also saves you having to remember every ending to a word. NB The wildcard symbol is not always an asterisk. Check the help pages of each database to find out which wildcard they use.

You are looking for articles written about East Germany before 1990, how would you refine your search? 1.By language 2.By date 3.By article type 4.By author 10

No. 2 is correct Limiting your search by date will allow you to search for articles written before You can refine your search in many ways, date being just one of them. If you wanted to restrict your search to articles written in English you can limit by language. Putting limits on your search term is another way of filtering out irrelevant material.

When conducting a systematic/literature review what is it important to do? 1.Use a different search strategy for each database 2.Use the same strategy for each database 3.Only use one database 4.Don’t use a strategy 10

No. 2 is correct It’s important to use the same, successful, search strategy for each database you search. This way you will be more efficient, you won’t have to spend time recreating a strategy and your results will be consistent.

If you have searched using your topic keywords and you aren’t retrieving many results, what should you always do? 1.Use synonyms for your search terms 2.Use a different database 3.Use only the results you’ve retrieved 4.Don’t know 10

No.1 is correct You could try using a different database but you’ll probably find you have the same problem. By using synonyms and similar search terms you will increase your chances of finding what you need. For example, some authors may use the term ‘neoplasm’ instead of ‘cancer’. Thinking of synonyms for your search terms will guarantee that you’re catching all the relevant documents.