Lately in class we have gone over proper search methods and emphasizing the different ways of searching for materials on databases and catalogs. We looked at keyword searching and using correct search strings. A search string can be one word to several words. It describes the topic you intend to search for and gives any other describing factors that may also be needed to convey a certain area of study. An example of a search string is: (Chinese or cook*) and agriculture. Using “AND” in a search string is a good idea if you know what exactly you are looking for. “AND” in a search string gives results on both words on each side of the word “AND”. For example, if you look up “surfing AND South Pacific” the results will only be of those titles which have surfing and south Pacific in the body of the material written. If you cannot find an interesting subject to research, you can use the word “OR” in your search string. Using “OR” will give results that have any of the words on each side of the word “OR”. For example, if you cannot find anything to write a paper about, use Surfing OR South Pacific. This will give results that have either Surfing or South Pacific in the body of the written material. This is a pretty simple search method to understand but takes a few tries to fully understand. I’m not gonna lie, I thought I knew everything about searching on the catalog or a database but this class has really opened my eyes to the seriousness of good searching methods.
