Page 122 - DLIS402_INFORMATION_ANALYSIS_AND_REPACKAGING

Unit 6: Information Retrieval Model and Search Strategies

Notes

The sheer volume of information available on any given subject can appear
daunting and overwhelming.
Since Library science syllabus is—based on research, which will be conducted online, whether using
the Learning Centre catalogue (OPAC) to search for books or the online databases to search for and
retrieve journal articles, it is essential that you give some thought prior to commencing a search as
to precisely what information you are trying to retrieve. By developing effective search strategies,
you will save yourself a lot of time. Otherwise, you may expend needless effort retrieving either too
little information, or too much.

Subject Matter

Successful searching combines creative guessing of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) along with
smart use of subject directories and search engines. Here are three general strategies. Before using
any of them, be sure to consider what organization might be a likely source for providing the necessary
information.
• URL Guessing and Cutting
• Using Subject Directories
• Using Search Engines
For a quick overview list of strategies to consider see the list below. It repeats some of what is is in
the three above as well as in the online tutorials below.
Determine likely organization with answer
Guess organization’s URL before trying search engines
Search for organization URL otherwise
Use “phrase searching” and unique words as much as possible
Use directories (Yahoo!, ODP, Look Smart) for broad, general topics
Use multiple step approach – can be several clicks to an answer
Folders to narrow large search sets: Teoma, WiseNut, Vivisimo, or NLResearch
Try a title field search to focus results more by subject
Use specialized search engines for news, Usenet postings, phone numbers, etc.
In all of these, it is always important to know what’s Not Included.
Basic Internet Searching class
Advanced Internet Searching class

Strategy to get Result

A basic search strategy can help you get used to each search engine’s features and how they are
expressed in the search query. Following are the steps will also ensure good results if your search is
multifaceted and you want to get the most relevant results.
Steps
1. Identify the important concepts of your search.
2. Choose the keywords that describe these concepts.

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