ILS504 - Reference & Information Resources and Services

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Database Search

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For this assignment you should complete the tutorial on Database searching skills and answer the questions in the document as fully as you can. You can also use the information from the lectures and readings to answer the questions. You should continue the evaluation of the resources from the last unit as well. After going through this tutorial answer the following questions as fully as you can. You may use examples.

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What is a database?

A database as defined by Bopp and Smith is information that is assigned into fields or structures. Today, these are mainly stored in digital format. Several examples of databases are Film and Sound Online, the National Sea Grant Library and Ecology Abstracts to name just a few, although Bopp gives the phone book as an example.

When you conduct a search for a specific title or author what type of search are you conducting?

This type of advanced technique is called field searching

What are basic search techniques?


Search by Keywords

When doing a basic search, think about the topic you want information on. Choose the appropriate keywords that you think will best describe that topic. Try to think about terms that are related such as synonyms – use your thesaurus if necessary. Try to be specific but not too wordy. Don’t use long phrases that describe your topic because you might only get items with all of those words.

Search by Boolean Operators

These three words help you to link together related keywords to help expand or narrow your search.

Use of "OR"

This Boolean operator will give the most hits because it will include all of the items that are defined by the search criteria without trying to exclude items. So, if you have two criteria, the items returned will only have to meet one of the criteria to be included in the results. If I were looking to create a set of types of dogs to end up with the most results I would use the Boolean string: Husky OR German Shepherd OR Poodle OR Pomeranian. That way my results would include items containing all of those dogs.

Use of "AND"

This Boolean operator will give more specific hits because it is looking for articles that have both of the terms. So if I were still looking for types of dogs, Husky AND German Shepherd would give me fewer hits as it would return articles that only mentioned both types of dogs.

Use of "NOT"

This Boolean operator will also give more specific hits because you are actually looking for items where that term is not present. My search for Husky NOT German Shepherd will really restrict my returned items because it will not find articles that mention German Shepherds even if Huskies are mentioned. You must be careful with this Boolean operator.

Use of Truncation

Many keywords may have various endings such as suffixes, plurals, or adjective,
adverb endings. Keywords may also have various beginnings such as prefixes.
Truncation symbols can be $ or * as the Database Research Skills tells us or + or ? or : as Bopp and Smith tells us. Bopp also tells us that Web based search engines often apply truncation without the user having to do it.

List some advanced search techniques

Parentheses or nesting

When you use more than one Boolean operator, it will be necessary to put parentheses around two or more terms using the same Boolean operator.

Field Searching


These are the sections that databases are divided into that allow you to search for information using very specific terms. Some examples would be to search by Title, or Author, or Year of Publication to name a few.

Name and diagram Boolean Operators

AND -  This will give me articles that include both orchids and roses

Orchids

Roses

OR – This will give me articles that include roses or orchids or when both orchids
and roses are mentioned in the articles

Orchids

Roses

NOT – This will give me articles that include orchids but not roses or when roses
and orchids are both mentioned in the article

Orchids

Roses

Which Boolean operator gives you the most items?

"OR"

Which one gives you the most relevant and why?

If I am looking for articles that mention both roses and orchids because I want to find out if they need similar environments to thrive, then AND will give me the most relevant hits.

What are “wild card” characters used to achieve in searching?

These are used for truncation, allowing you to retrieve words with the same root. An example would be educat* will retrieve educate, educating, education, educational, educator, educators, etc.
Examples are : $, *, +, ?, : Every database is different so check before you use one.

When should you use truncation in your search strategy?

Bopp and Smith say you should use truncation to allow for some variation in how the database is organized and to accommodate some uncertainty in the information sources.

When should you use a Subject Search vs Keyword Search?

Use a subject search when you are fairly certain of the information you are looking for, when you want fewer items retrieved with a higher relevancy for your topic.