Table of Contents | Introduction
| Resources | Search Strategies
| Overall Search Strategy | Example
Searches | Checklist and Hints & Tips | Glossary
and Connection Details
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6. Checklist and Hints & Tips
6.1 Search Checklist for when you are
stuck
Have you:
- asked the Subject Librarian?
- tried using the Web? Alta Vista?
Lycos?
- tried using a thesaurus to find alternative terms?
- tried looking at a relevant article or an abstract to find alternative
terms
- tried a citation search?
- tried a citation search on the Web? (use Alta
Vista)
- tried asking a lecturer?
- tried asking a friend?
- tried asking the person next to you? (you could offer to help them
in return)
- tried thinking about how someone might have classified an article related
to the area you are interested in
- tried reviewing what you have done so far?
- did you get side-tracked by a promising line of enquiry and fail to finish
the main search?
- tried doing a simple experimental search to better understand a system
or an advanced feature you are not very sure about and compare that result
with your normal way of working?
- tried getting up and going for a coffee! Seriously, you can often be
more creative at solving a problem if you take a short break. Make sure
you save as much of your work as possible though.
Don't forget:
- the Library doesn't take all journals - if you bring back 5 hits from
BIDS it may be that none of them
are here at Lancaster. If you brought back 15, from different journals,
you would stand a much better chance of finding one of them in the Library.
- computers are pretty stupid - they will look for exactly what you type,
whether that is what you meant or not!
So a search on global wrming won't yield very much (typo)
- Computer systems don't search by what the words you type mean,
but just whether it can find a record that has exactly the set of letters
that you type.
- It is easy to get confused between what you intended to search and
what you actually did. Maybe you have three good ideas for how to search
for what you want, you start searching, this leads to four more ideas,
you try some of these, which leads to a couple more and then you forget
what you were going to do next. Try to write down good ideas for future
searches (such as other keywords or authors to try) rather than trying
to remember a long and ever changing list of things you might try next.
6.2 Top Ten Web Tips
- unless (or until) you really need them - turn the graphics off (Options
menu) and things will be much quicker
- remember the time difference. If you are using American sites do it
in the morning (all sites ending in .com, .edu, .mil,
.gov, .net, .org, .int, .nato, .ca,
.mx, .br, .co, .ar etc)
- use Alta Vista - it seems
to be the best search engine.
- use the bookmarks feature - it saves lots of time
- Remember to save your bookmarks onto a disk if you aren't using your
own machine
- ensure you are using a proxy cache server (Options menu, Network
Options)
- persevere - things often don't work the first time or have been moved
elsewhere
- learn how to progressively take off the end of the URL
to cope with filename changes
- be sceptical about the quality and reliability of things you find
- try running separate browser windows at the same time - search in parallel
doing something else while you wait for a slow page to load
- don't forget other sources: BIDS,
FirstSearch, CD-ROMs, Library
etc.
6.3 Top Ten BIDS Tips
- truncation searches and wildcards (histor*) are essential
- try out your search combinations on a small year range then expand
to the full range when you have got a good search expression
- you can re-use a search expression in the ISI databases by switching
between them (using Options)
- author names are inconsistent: PERSON_A and PERSON_AB are often the
same person! (Remember to omit Hyphens for double barrelled names: Griff
Rhys-Jones would be RHYSJONES_G)
- get an email address (if you haven't already got one) to send back
the results
- use the keywords field to find other search terms
- use citation searching - if you have at least one good reference
- use all the relevant databases: ISI, IBSS, BL Inside
Information, Uncover
- BIDS slows down as more people
use it - try not to work between 2pm and 4pm
- prepare as much as possible of your search beforehand
- don't forget other sources: FirstSearch,
Web, CD-ROMs,
Library, etc.
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