Navigating the Library’s Website: Resources and Search Strategies You’ll need to Know to be a Top-Notch Research Assistant Library Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10 th, 2014 Suzanne van den Hoogen, MLIS

Outline Information Seeking Behaviour: Where Do You Look for Information? Navigating the Library Website: Books, Articles & More! Ask a Librarian: They’re a Life Saver! Quiz Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Finding Information: Where do you go first? Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Virtual Tour: Exploring the Library website library.stfx.ca My Library Account WorldCat: Library Catalogue Journal Titles Course Reserves Google Scholar Document Delivery Electronic Resources Live Help Subjects A-Z Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Subject Guides: What are they? Subject Research Guides: What are these? Subject guides are an “all-in-one” research guide, created by librarians, to help you find key research books, articles, journals and more in your academic discipline! Common to all Subject Guides: Find Books Find Articles Writing & Citing Liaison Librarians Help Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Quiz 1.Does the StFX Library have the book Programming Sudoku? If so, is it in hard copy or electronic format? 2.Who is the Liaison Librarian for Chemistry? What other subject areas is this Librarian responsible for? 3.What is the name of the Library’s catalogue? 4.What is your password for Document Delivery? 5.Go to the Biology Subject Guide. Go to the FIND BOOKS page. Do a search for books on Cancer: How many results do you get? How many are from StFX? How many of the books from StFX are e-books? Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

EXPLORING EFFECTIVE SEARCH STRATEGIES Getting what you want when you want it! Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

5 Ws of Research Who? What? Where? When? Why? Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

KeywordsPhrase SearchingBoolean OperatorsWildcardsDomain/Site SearchFile SearchSynonym Search Search Strategies Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Select your key words carefully 17 th century women’s shoes, is much narrower than “Antiques” Avoid using words like “A” “An” or “The” Examples: – When were the Acadians expelled from Nova Scotia? – When do Asiatic lilies bloom? Key Words Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

To search a string of words as a “phrase”, simply use quotation marks around your search terms. Atlantic + Ocean or “Atlantic Ocean” Microsoft + Office or “Microsoft Office” Phrase Searching“ ” Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

OR Broadens your search AND (+) Narrows your search NOT (-) Makes your search more precise Boolean Operators Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Example: You are looking for information on where to go to UNIVERSITY? Boolean Operator: OR CollegeUniversity College OR University Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Example: What is the relationship between health and exercise? Boolean Operator: AND (+) HealthExercise Health +Exercise Health AND Exercise Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Example: You are looking to get a new pet. You want to look for information on cats, but NOT dogs Boolean Operator: NOT (-) Cat –dog Cat NOT Dog CatDog Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Wildcards: * $ ! ? Also known as “Truncation” or “Stemming” Wildcard Symbols may vary: – * – $ – ! – ? Example: Teen* teens teenage teenager teenagers Example: Teen* teens teenage teenager teenagers Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Wildcards: * ? $ ! Wildcards also allow us to search for the answers to specific questions, or variations of specific words Examples: “Thermometer was invented by *” “Traffic light was invented by ?” Wom?n (women, woman) Note: Remember to verify the wildcard symbols used by individual databases Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Domain/Site Search You can limit your search to a specific domain (site). Domains are “indicators” within a web address that identify the “source” or “location” of the information you are searching. Sample of Top-Level Domain Codes:.ca Canada Country Code.com company.coopcooperatives.gcgovernment Canada.govgovernment US.infoinformation.intinternational organizations.org organization.netnetwork Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Domain/Site Search Strategy Example #1 Enter your search term with the domain code: health.org library.com family.gc.ca Example #2 You can also search a specific website by entering your search term with the URL: “Albert Einstein” site:amazon.ca tuition site: Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

You can search for specific file types on the WWW Examples: File Search Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

File Type Search Strategy: Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Synonym Search ~ You can search for synonyms by using the tilde symbol immediately preceding your search term: ~ Examples: ~cow ~drugs ~exercise ~pollution Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Ask a Librarian: We’re here to help you In-Library In-Person Reference Desk Personal Appointments Telephone: Online LiveHelp Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

QUESTIONS ? Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014

Thank You! Suzanne van den Hoogen Liaison Librarian for: Adult Education Anthropology Education Political Science Sociology Research Tool Kit Workshop June 10-12, 2014