Bibliographic Search

Search as a system: Input/Process/Output

• Input: Search phrase, search parameters
• Process: Search Engine (data + algorithm) searching for results based on the given input
• Output: Results

Types of Sources

• Free Web
• Proprietary (how to distinguish scholarly journals from magazines)
  • Print-only
  • Web-based

Why "I found it on the Internet" is meaningless

Two times two equals 9,876,543. Is this true?

Search phrase

• Principle: If search results are not satisfactory the first time around, re-search with new inputs.
• Be smart enough to recognize gold when you see it!
• Yield ratio: For every 10 searches, expect to find only 1 useful result.
• Using quotes ("smart appliance") vs. not using quotes (smart appliance)

Search parameters ....... advanced search

• all these words:
• this exact wording or phrase:
• one or more of these words:
• do NOT show any of these unwanted words:

• Results per page: (default 10)
• Language:
• File type: (pdf, xls, ppt, doc)
• Search within a site or domain: (com, edu, gov, org)
• Date: (how recent the page is)
• Where your keywords show up: (anywhere/title/text/URL/links)

   

Proprietary Databases

Information Systems (now classified under Computer Science), includes Safari Books

Business