Analyze your search results – text notes for HOWLER module
Madison Area Technical College Libraries
August 30, 2011

Slide 1 - Title: Analyze your search results

Slide 2 - Introduction Slide
Hi, I'm Donna, one of your Madison College Librarians. In this HOWLER module, we'll look at another step of the research process - analyzing search results. You can use the handy navigation bar at the bottom of the screen at any point to pause, rewind, or view closed captioning. [graphic: photo of Donna Marconnet. Libraries logo]  

Slide 3 - Millions
Slide notes: Our library databases contain millions of articles. When you perform a search, ...
Our library databases contain millions of articles. When you perform a search, ... [graphic: Find Articles webpage with list of databases]

Slide 4 - results
Slide notes: ...you may get thousands of results. It’s helpful to analyze those results quickly to see if they’re relevant and then redirect searches, if needed. 

Slide 5 - Quickscan
Slide notes: A quick scan can help you decide if you need to refine your search. Let’s take a closer look:

Slide 6 - Citation
Each item in a result list contains brief citation information which describes the actual document. [graphic: Journal Citation]

Slide 7 - Popular vs. scholarly
Slide notes: Citations include the name of the magazine, journal, periodical, or publication, also sometimes referred to as the source. 
This title is a journal - an academic or scholarly source. 
As you start your research, think about the types of information resources you should have. Are popular sources okay, or do you need more scholarly sources, such as academic journals?

Slide 8 - A to Z
Slide notes: 
Actually, academic journal articles can be written on just about any topic you can think of from Aardwolves to Zombies. [graphic: Aardvark and Zombies journal article citations]

Slide 9 - Date
Slide notes: The first results returned may not always be the most useful. Sometimes, you may want only the most recent information. Note the date of the article and check whether the results are listed in order by date or by relevancy.  [graphic: citation with date highlighted]

Slide 10 - Title
Slide notes: Article titles can often give you a general idea of the content included in the article. [graphic: citation with article title highlighted]

Slide 11 - Additional info
Slide notes: Additional citation information may also give you important clues about the document. For example, we can see that this article is 11 pages long and includes a number of charts which may be useful. [graphic: citation with additional information highlighted]

Slide 12 - keyword wolves
Slide notes: Let’s explore the results of a few sample searches. First, using one of our EBSCO library databases,a keyword search for the term "wolves"... [graphics: photo of Wolfie hoding a book. Keyword search wolves]

Slide 13 - relevancy
Slide notes: ...yields a large number of results. The most recent results do appear first, but many are not relevant. [graphic: results list with 192149 highlighed]

Slide 14 - Appropriate
Slide notes:  
 A quick look also shows several irrelevant articles with the author's last name of "Wolf" and some publication titles that would be unlikely to have articles about wildlife. [graphic: resulsts list with ciations with author's name of Wolf highlighted]

Slide 15 - Quiz next step
Slide notes: Quiz question - what do you recommend as a next step ? A) Narrow or focus the search by performing a subject search rather than a keyword search B) Keep looking through the pages of results C) let your teacher know that there is nothing in the database on your topic

Slide 16 - Subject searching
Slide notes: Subject searching can help focus a search and eliminate some of the irrelevant results. [graphic: results list with 618 highlighted]

Slide 17 - effective searching
Slide notes: Remember that effective searching techniques can help you get better results and save time.

Slide 18 - More Info
Slide notes: For our next sample search, let’s search for information on the topic, identity theft, in our library database, Opposing Viewpoints. Each of our library databases has some unique content and features. [graphic: screenshot of basic search = identity theft]

Slide 19 - Article Titles
Slide notes: Quickly scanning a list of results can help you decide if the articles might be useful. Article titles may highlight the author’s purpose. [graphic: results list with identity theft article citations]

Slide 20 - More info
Slide notes: Look for any other information about the content. Check the dates. Depending on the topic, currency may be an important factor. [graphic: results lists with dates of 2002, 2005, 2009]

Slide 21
Slide notes: Other details can indicate whether a specific resource might be useful. For example, statistical data can be used to support an argument in your speech or research paper assignment. [graphics: types of articles = table, editorial, audio, brief, graph, chart, essay, business, opinion and editorial]

Slide 22 - Example 2
Slide notes: For this last example, let’s search for information on the topic of health care reform, using a newspaper database and a health database. Starting with a subject search for health care reform, ... 
graphic: screenshot of subject search for health care reform in nursing database]

Slide 23 - quiz clickbox title
Slide notes:Go ahead and try this. Click on the article titled "remaking America's health-care system".
...we get an impressive list of results. Clicking on the article title, shows us the citation for the article. Go ahead and try this. Click on the article titled "remaking America's health-care system". [graphic: 3 article citations]

Slide 24 - Publication info
Slide notes: The citation gives you more information about the article which can help you decide if it will be useful.
 It also includes a list of subject terms which you might use in further searches. If the title of the publication is not familiar to you, check if the database offers more information about the source. 
Go ahead and try this. Click the journal title... 
[graphic: citation for journal article "Rethinking America's health-care system]

Slide 25 - Publication details
Slide notes: In this case, the publication details show us that this publication is an academic, peer reviewed medical journal.
[graphic: Lancet article]

Slide 26 - formats
Slide notes:  he list of results shows us that various formats may be available. 
Let's take another look at those 3 citations.
HTML Full Text indicates that the article is available full text in HTML format. 
PDF indicates that the article is available full text in PDF format. 
Find Full Text indicates that the article is not available full text in this database. 
But you could click to check if this is available in another database, in print, or request the article through InterLibrary Loan.

Slide 27 - Additional Search Options
Slide notes: Sometimes additional search options can help you focus your search to get the results you need. (graphic other limiters) [graphic: limiters screenshot with type, date range, language, title, or disciplines]

Slide 28 - quiz clickbox abstract
Slide notes: In many databases, links will lead to to even more information about the document. To see an example, Go ahead and Click the title of this article to see more information. [graphic: article citation]

Slide 29 - Abstracts
Slide notes:  Abstracts are summaries of an article’s content. Quickly reading the abstract may help you decide if an article may be useful. 
Then you can decide whether to read the entire article or skip it. [graphic: article citation with abstract]

Slide 30 - Zero results
Slide notes: Have you ever performed a search and gotten very few or no results? Here’s a few suggestions if you ever encounter that situation: [Graphic: no results found, no items matched]

Slide 31 - Suggestions
Slide notes: Check your spelling. Try alternate search terms. Change which fields are being searched. Some databases offer the ability to search citation fields, or even the full text of articles. 
Remove or change your limiters or filters. Try another database since each database offers a unique content collection. 
Remember you can ask a librarian which search terms and databases might be useful for your topic.


Slide 32 - quiz questions
Slide 32 - quiz questions
If you have questions, you can ask a librarian for help with library research… a. By phone b. by email c. in person at the help desk d. any of the above

Slide 33
Quiz results

Slide 34 - end
Slide notes: Thanks for completing this HOWLER learning unit. 

Analyze
Wednesday, August 24, 2011