Developing Search Strategies Jill CrawleyLow Veterinary Medicine Library

Developing Search Strategies Jill Crawley-Low, Veterinary Medicine Library, University of Saskatchewan

Developing Strategies for Searching Electronic Resources • • • clearly define the question & concepts consider the vocabulary organize the terms construct the search statement decide which databases to search execute the search 26/08/05

Clearly Define the Question • example of a precisely worded question: • “are there articles on mycorrhizal symbioses in vascular plants written in the last 5 years? ” 26/08/05

Identify the Main Concepts in Your Question • “are there articles on mycorrhizal symbioses in vascular plants written in the last 5 years? ” • • mycorrhizal symbioses mycorrhizas vascular plants 2000+ 26/08/05

Consider the Vocabulary • forms of keywords – mycorrhiza, mycorrhizal, mycorrhizas • synonyms – mycoflora, fungal flora • truncation • ? replaces one character • * replaces more than one character 26/08/05

Organize the Terms • free-text or index searching • Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) • Parentheses 26/08/05

Boolean Operators • most search engines don’t allow natural language - use keywords or key phrases and combine them with Boolean operators • and retrieves records containing both terms (narrows a search) • or retrieves records containing either term (broadens a search) 26/08/05

Parentheses • allow you to control the order in which keywords or key phrases are searched • all search statements containing “and” plus “or” in the same sentence must use parentheses to control search order 26/08/05

Free Text or Index Searching • enter keywords or phrases • e. g. vascular plants or mycorrhiza • search for terms in specific fields • e. g. king in au, vascular plants in ti 26/08/05

Construct the Search Strategy • “are there articles on mycorrhizas or mycorrhizal symbioses in vascular plants written in the last 5 years? ” • (mycorrhizas or mycorrhizal symbioses) and vascular plant? and py>=2000 26/08/05

Determine Which Databases to Search • Microbiology Abstracts: Algology, Mycology & Protozoology – references in biological life sciences, medicine, and microbiology http: //www. csa. com/factsheets/microbiology-c-set-c. php • Web of Science - citation databases contain the references cited by the authors of the articles, also use these references to do cited reference searching- find articles that cite a previously published work http: //scientific. thomson. com/media/scpdf/ba_qrc_11_15. pdf • Biological Abstracts - coverage of worldwide journal literature in the life sciences including agriculture, biochemistry, biotechnology, ecology, immunology, microbiology, neuroscience, pharmacology, public health, and toxicology http: //www. biosis. org/media/pdf/qrc/BIOSIS_on_Silver. Platter_QRC. pdf 26/08/05