Searching Dialog - using the ERIC database
Strategy used: Building Block Strategy
Naive question: Are there any state laws concerning distance education in the pubic schools?
Facet and Key Terms:
Facet 1: state law
term(s): state regulation
Facet 2: distance education
term(s): online learning, E-learning
Facet 3: public school
term(s): school
I logged on to Dialog. In the command box I entered "B1" which allowed me to access the ERIC database.
In the command box I entered the following commands one at a time to create my searching statement using the building block strategy. When each facet/term were entered, Dialog displays the term and the number of results. At times I used the "?" in to include other forms of the word I was searching.
ssstate law - 0 results
ssstate regulation? - 978 results
ssdistance education - 11733 results
ssonline learning - 1 result
ssE-learning - 0 results
sspublic school - 20217 results
Now that my terms were entered, I combined them to form a searching statement. I chose not to search state law because it turned up 0 results. I elected to use state regulation instead. Distance education had more items so that is why I added that next and finished up with public school.
1st statement
ssstate regulation AND distance education AND public school - 0 results
Notes: I was surprised that there were no results. I decided to add state law next and search again.
2nd statement
ssstate law OR state regulation? AND distance education AND public school - 0 results
Notes: Again, my search yielded 0 results. I entered ds in the command box so that I could see all of the items I had searched. I then combined s2 and s7 which formed my final searching statement below.
3rd statement
ssstate regulation AND distance education OR online learning OR E-learning - 22 results
Notes: I was pleased with the results of my last searching statement. I found several hits that were pertinent to my question. One titled State Policies for Distance Education: A Survey of the States dated March 1999 seemed to be the most relevant.
Conclusion:
Dialog is not difficult to use; however, it is different than what I have been using. One I know the commands, I feel that using Dialog would be easier and even less stressful than others.
Boys enjoying books!
Reading with smiles
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Competency 6 - Searching Databases (3rd Search)
Search Strategy 3 - Specific Facet First
Naive Question: What types of duties might elementary school librarians have?
For my 3rd search, I chose to use the specific facet first strategy. This strategy is good to use when you are not sure if there is much information available in regard to the question. I have searched this question using two other strategies in two different databases. In one database, I was not satisfied, while the 2nd search proved successful. With this type of mixed results, the specific facet first approach should work well.
Using this approach, you begin the search with the most unique facet. Each time you search you can add other facets as needed stopping when you feel that you have the most pertinent results.
As I've stated before, I have had difficulty choosing the main facets so using the specific facet first strategy will be good practice in this area.
I chose the Library Literature database which I have used before. I searched a question similar to this question with adequate but not great results. I want to see if my experience, the change in question, and the strategy improve my results.
Searching Library Literature:
I first chose facets and key terms. Next I searched the thesaurus to get for additional subject terms. N
Facet: duty/duties
Key terms: job responsibilities, roles
Thesaurus terms: duties of librarian
Facet: elementary school
Key terms: grade school
Thesaurus terms: Using the db's thesaurus, there were not additional relevant terms.
Facet: librarian*
Key terms: school librarian
Thesaurus terms: teacher-librarians, children's librarians, media specialist
Facet Retrieval Results:
ss1: (job responsibili* OR duties of librarian*) - 735 results
ss2: (elementary school OR grade school) 36 results
ss3: (school librarian* OR teacher librarian* OR children's librarian* OR media specialist) - 1689 results
Narrowing the search:
According to the specific facet first strategy, you should begin the search with the most unique facet that produces the least results. Next you add a second facet to produce more pertinent results. This process continues with you gradually adding facets as needed in order to retrieve the most relevant information. Following this strategy, I performed the following searches.
1st search
using the advanced search- subject headings
(elementary school OR grade school) AND (duties of librarian*)
Results: 0
Notes: This search provided no results. The term "grade school" seemed ambiguous; therefore, losing the focus of the search.
2nd search
using the advanced search - subject headings
(elementary school) AND (duties of librarian*)
Results: 2
Notes: I am still not getting any recall. The search is much too narrow to retrieve information relevant to the question.
3rd Search
using the advanced search - subject headings
(elementary school) AND (duties of librarian*) AND (school librarian* OR teacher librarian* OR children's librarian* OR media specialist)
results: 0
Notes: I am not having any success here. I noted earlier that "duties of librarian" was essentially the information I am seeking. However, I needed to try the other facets so that I don't miss any relevant information. In reflecting on this, I will create a search statement focusing primarily on the information being sought.
4th search
using the advanced search - subject headings
(duties of librarian*) AND (school librarian* OR children's librarian*)
results: 62
Notes: I am pleased with the outcome of this search. In scanning the information, I find many records pertinent to my search.
Conclusion:
I found this strategy and database worked really well for the information I was seeking. When I searched the thesaurus for duties, I found duties of librarian. This seemed almost spot on for what I was searching. The thesaurus was not much help for finding terms similar to elementary school. However; during the course of my search, I realized that this was not needed. When I next searched for librarian, I found school librarian and children's librarian. Those terms eliminated the need for elementary school in my search statement.
The terms "duties of librarian*" with the addition of "school librarian" was exactly the information I was seeking. I still performed the various searches using the strategy to gain a better understanding of that process. Just as I predicted, the search was too narrow to retrieve any relevant information. Once I used the searching statement that contained the best facets, I received a satisfactory retrieval list.
Sixty-two results is a good amount of information to sift through to find the best results. In self-reflection, I realize that I have had a difficult time choosing the main facets which has made many of my searching attempts frustrating. However, using the specifics facet first strategy was easier for me and helped me see how to pick the most unique facet. I also feel that this particular database was an excellent choice for my question which also made the searching process less frustrating. I want to apply what I have learned using this strategy to other strategies when choosing my facet and key terms.
My selections:
Coatney, S. (2008). Library Media Specialist - Not a Job for the Faint of Heart!. Teacher
Librarian, 35(3),57. Retrieved March 20, 2010, from Library Lit. & Inf. Full Text
database.
Harvey, C. (2009). What should an Administrator expect a School Library Media Specialist to
be?. Library Media Connection, 28(2),45. Retrieved March 20, 2010 from Library Lit &
Inf Full Text database.
Shankles, R. (2008). What a School Librarian Does All the Live-long Day...Arkansas
Libraries, 65(1),33-7. Retrieved March 20, 2010 from Library Lit & Inf Full Text
database.
Naive Question: What types of duties might elementary school librarians have?
For my 3rd search, I chose to use the specific facet first strategy. This strategy is good to use when you are not sure if there is much information available in regard to the question. I have searched this question using two other strategies in two different databases. In one database, I was not satisfied, while the 2nd search proved successful. With this type of mixed results, the specific facet first approach should work well.
Using this approach, you begin the search with the most unique facet. Each time you search you can add other facets as needed stopping when you feel that you have the most pertinent results.
As I've stated before, I have had difficulty choosing the main facets so using the specific facet first strategy will be good practice in this area.
I chose the Library Literature database which I have used before. I searched a question similar to this question with adequate but not great results. I want to see if my experience, the change in question, and the strategy improve my results.
Searching Library Literature:
I first chose facets and key terms. Next I searched the thesaurus to get for additional subject terms. N
Facet: duty/duties
Key terms: job responsibilities, roles
Thesaurus terms: duties of librarian
Facet: elementary school
Key terms: grade school
Thesaurus terms: Using the db's thesaurus, there were not additional relevant terms.
Facet: librarian*
Key terms: school librarian
Thesaurus terms: teacher-librarians, children's librarians, media specialist
Facet Retrieval Results:
ss1: (job responsibili* OR duties of librarian*) - 735 results
ss2: (elementary school OR grade school) 36 results
ss3: (school librarian* OR teacher librarian* OR children's librarian* OR media specialist) - 1689 results
Narrowing the search:
According to the specific facet first strategy, you should begin the search with the most unique facet that produces the least results. Next you add a second facet to produce more pertinent results. This process continues with you gradually adding facets as needed in order to retrieve the most relevant information. Following this strategy, I performed the following searches.
1st search
using the advanced search- subject headings
(elementary school OR grade school) AND (duties of librarian*)
Results: 0
Notes: This search provided no results. The term "grade school" seemed ambiguous; therefore, losing the focus of the search.
2nd search
using the advanced search - subject headings
(elementary school) AND (duties of librarian*)
Results: 2
Notes: I am still not getting any recall. The search is much too narrow to retrieve information relevant to the question.
3rd Search
using the advanced search - subject headings
(elementary school) AND (duties of librarian*) AND (school librarian* OR teacher librarian* OR children's librarian* OR media specialist)
results: 0
Notes: I am not having any success here. I noted earlier that "duties of librarian" was essentially the information I am seeking. However, I needed to try the other facets so that I don't miss any relevant information. In reflecting on this, I will create a search statement focusing primarily on the information being sought.
4th search
using the advanced search - subject headings
(duties of librarian*) AND (school librarian* OR children's librarian*)
results: 62
Notes: I am pleased with the outcome of this search. In scanning the information, I find many records pertinent to my search.
Conclusion:
I found this strategy and database worked really well for the information I was seeking. When I searched the thesaurus for duties, I found duties of librarian. This seemed almost spot on for what I was searching. The thesaurus was not much help for finding terms similar to elementary school. However; during the course of my search, I realized that this was not needed. When I next searched for librarian, I found school librarian and children's librarian. Those terms eliminated the need for elementary school in my search statement.
The terms "duties of librarian*" with the addition of "school librarian" was exactly the information I was seeking. I still performed the various searches using the strategy to gain a better understanding of that process. Just as I predicted, the search was too narrow to retrieve any relevant information. Once I used the searching statement that contained the best facets, I received a satisfactory retrieval list.
Sixty-two results is a good amount of information to sift through to find the best results. In self-reflection, I realize that I have had a difficult time choosing the main facets which has made many of my searching attempts frustrating. However, using the specifics facet first strategy was easier for me and helped me see how to pick the most unique facet. I also feel that this particular database was an excellent choice for my question which also made the searching process less frustrating. I want to apply what I have learned using this strategy to other strategies when choosing my facet and key terms.
My selections:
Coatney, S. (2008). Library Media Specialist - Not a Job for the Faint of Heart!. Teacher
Librarian, 35(3),57. Retrieved March 20, 2010, from Library Lit. & Inf. Full Text
database.
Harvey, C. (2009). What should an Administrator expect a School Library Media Specialist to
be?. Library Media Connection, 28(2),45. Retrieved March 20, 2010 from Library Lit &
Inf Full Text database.
Shankles, R. (2008). What a School Librarian Does All the Live-long Day...Arkansas
Libraries, 65(1),33-7. Retrieved March 20, 2010 from Library Lit & Inf Full Text
database.
Competency 6 - Searching Databases (2nd search)
Search Strategy 2 - Pearl Growing aka The Snowball Approach
Naive Question: What types of duties might elementary school librarians have?
I began looking through the databases and search strategies provided to determine where and how I should begin my 2nd search. My first search was using the successive fractions approach so I decided to use the pearl growing or snowball approach because it was the opposite type of search. This approach essentially works by identifying one pertinent item or record previously found and then using terms, records, keywords, and phrases found withing that item to create another search. This continues until you are satisfied with the hits that are generated.
I chose to use the Academic Search Complete database because I did not have a lot of good hits previously, and this database should contain more records related to my question. It is also a user friendly database for even beginner searchers.
Searching Academic Search Complete:
I began my pearl growing search strategy by selecting a pertinent record I found during my previous search. I did a title search on this item and selected relevant subject terms to create my Boolean statement.
Known item:
Riedling, A. M. (2001). In Search of Who We Are: The School Library Media Specialist in
in the 21st Century. Book Report. 20(3, 28-30, 32.
Related Subject Terms:
school librarians
job descriptions
ss1 (using advanced search and subject headings)
(school librarian*) AND (job description*)
Results: 12
Notes: Though there were only 12 hits, they were all relevant to my search. However, I realize I might be missing pertinent information. I decided to look through the results to find additional related subject terms.
Related Subject Terms:
school librarians
job descriptions
occupations
**In looking through the 12 results, I basically found the two previous subject terms I used to search. I did find one additional term I felt was worth a try: occupations.
ss2 (using advanced search and subject terms)
(school librarian*) AND (job description* OR occupation)
Results: 14
Notes: I received 14 hits this time; however, they were not all relevant information. I lost some pertinent information and gained junk by adding the word "occupation" to my search statement.
Conclusion:
I found the pearl growing strategy to be extremely effective in helping me find relevant information. I'm not sure if it is all of the the searching practice I am doing, but I found this strategy to be easier. I located a known title and used subject terms found with that result. By doing this, my search was very focused on the information I was seeking.
Additionally, I applied truncation to my searches because of past experiences. I did not want to leave out pertinent information due to limiting my search to only certain forms of the important words.
My selections:
Riedling, A. (20031. In Search of Who We Are: The School Library Media Specialist in the 21st
Century. Book Report, 20(3), 28. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete Database.
Yucht. A. (2000). Management Mantras. Teacher Librarian, 27(5), 32. Retrieved from
Academic Search Complete Database.
Zmuda, A., & Harada, V. (2008). Reframing the Library Media Specialist as a Learning
Specialist. School Library Media Activities Monthly, 24(8), 42-46. Retrieved from
Academic Search Complete database.
Naive Question: What types of duties might elementary school librarians have?
I began looking through the databases and search strategies provided to determine where and how I should begin my 2nd search. My first search was using the successive fractions approach so I decided to use the pearl growing or snowball approach because it was the opposite type of search. This approach essentially works by identifying one pertinent item or record previously found and then using terms, records, keywords, and phrases found withing that item to create another search. This continues until you are satisfied with the hits that are generated.
I chose to use the Academic Search Complete database because I did not have a lot of good hits previously, and this database should contain more records related to my question. It is also a user friendly database for even beginner searchers.
Searching Academic Search Complete:
I began my pearl growing search strategy by selecting a pertinent record I found during my previous search. I did a title search on this item and selected relevant subject terms to create my Boolean statement.
Known item:
Riedling, A. M. (2001). In Search of Who We Are: The School Library Media Specialist in
in the 21st Century. Book Report. 20(3, 28-30, 32.
Related Subject Terms:
school librarians
job descriptions
ss1 (using advanced search and subject headings)
(school librarian*) AND (job description*)
Results: 12
Notes: Though there were only 12 hits, they were all relevant to my search. However, I realize I might be missing pertinent information. I decided to look through the results to find additional related subject terms.
Related Subject Terms:
school librarians
job descriptions
occupations
**In looking through the 12 results, I basically found the two previous subject terms I used to search. I did find one additional term I felt was worth a try: occupations.
ss2 (using advanced search and subject terms)
(school librarian*) AND (job description* OR occupation)
Results: 14
Notes: I received 14 hits this time; however, they were not all relevant information. I lost some pertinent information and gained junk by adding the word "occupation" to my search statement.
Conclusion:
I found the pearl growing strategy to be extremely effective in helping me find relevant information. I'm not sure if it is all of the the searching practice I am doing, but I found this strategy to be easier. I located a known title and used subject terms found with that result. By doing this, my search was very focused on the information I was seeking.
Additionally, I applied truncation to my searches because of past experiences. I did not want to leave out pertinent information due to limiting my search to only certain forms of the important words.
My selections:
Riedling, A. (20031. In Search of Who We Are: The School Library Media Specialist in the 21st
Century. Book Report, 20(3), 28. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete Database.
Yucht. A. (2000). Management Mantras. Teacher Librarian, 27(5), 32. Retrieved from
Academic Search Complete Database.
Zmuda, A., & Harada, V. (2008). Reframing the Library Media Specialist as a Learning
Specialist. School Library Media Activities Monthly, 24(8), 42-46. Retrieved from
Academic Search Complete database.
Competency 6 - Searching Databases (1st search)
Search Strategy 1 - Successive Fractions Approach
Naive Question: What types of duties might elementary school librarians have?
Previously I searched for duties of a librarian that pertained to curriculum, but I changed the topic a little to encompass any and all duties a librarian might have.
For my first search strategy I chose to use the successive fractions approach using the ERIC/First Search Database. I previously used this database and wanted to rely on those previous experiences to aid in this search. This particular database was user-friendly.
I have had some difficulty in creating a really good search statement on the first try in previous searches. Using the successive fractions approach will be a good strategy for helping me with this problem. According to this strategy, I am to begin broad and then narrow my search as needed.
This is my second time to complete this assignment. This time I applied information given to me by Dr. Perryman. I made sure that my facet and key terms were the same thing. This really helped narrow my search.
Searching ERIC/First Search:
I listed my facets and terms. Next, I used the database's thesaurus to search for similar terms.
Facets/Key Terms:
duties, librarian, elementary school
1st facet: duties
*initial terms - job descriptions, roles
**thesaurus terms - occupational information
2nd facet: librarian
*initial terms - school librarian, library media specialist
**thesaurus terms - medial specialist, library personnel
3rd facet: elementary school
*initial terms - grade schools
**thesaurus terms - schools
Key term results:
According to the successive fractions approach, my beginning facet would be the term that produced the greatest number of results. Therefore, I performed a subject search on each key term/facet phrase to determine which generated the most hits.
Using the advanced search option, I performed the following searches:
ss1 (using subject headings) - (duties OR job descriptions OR roles OR occupational information) - 9,498 hits
ss2 (using subject headings) - (librarian OR school librarian OR library media specialist OR media specialist OR library personnel) - 4, 320 hits
ss3 (using subject headings) - (elementary schools OR grade schools OR schools) - 130,602 hits
Narrowing the search:
In keeping with the successive fractions approach, I need to begin my search using the facet that produced the largest number of hits. From there I will narrow my search by gradually adding facets. Using this strategy, I performed the following searches in the advanced search mode using subject headings.
ss1: using the advanced search option and searching using subject fields:
(elementary schools OR grade schools OR schools) AND (duties OR job descriptions OR roles OR occupational information)
results: 901 hits
notes: The results had to do with all types of school personnel duties. I know that I need to narrow the search to include only the duties of a librarian.
ss2: (elementary schools OR grade schools OR schools) AND (duties OR job descriptions OR roles OR occupational information) AND (librarian OR school librarian OR library media specialist OR media specialist OR library personnel)
results: 8
notes: The results were far fewer than the previous searches. I felt that I was missing a lot of relevant information. I looked over the search statements and decided to apply truncation to expand my search some in hopes of retrieving pertinent information without adding a lot of junk to the retrieval list.
ss3: (elementary school* OR grade school* OR school*) AND (dut* OR job description* OR role* OR occupational information) AND (librarian* OR school librarian* OR library media specialist* OR media specialist* OR library personnel)
results: 67
notes: This was a much more successful search. In looking through the retrieval list, I was able to find a good selection of pertinent information. Applying truncation was a good next step.
Overall conclusion:
The successive fractions approach is easy to use even for a novice searcher. Using the thesaurus to find key terms and then searching each one to evaluate the results is beneficial to visual learners. From the beginning, one gets an idea of how much information is available on each term which helps guide the search.
This was my second time to go through this assignment. I learned a great deal by applying the changes Dr. Perryman suggested. I went back and made sure that my terms and facets were the same before performing my search. That alone really narrowed my search down considerably.
In hindsight, I should have applied truncation before my third search. However; this is a learning experience, and I wanted to document my search the way I went through the process. I feel this is an important aspect of self reflection.
In my previous search I used a keyword search at the end to acquire a better retrieval list. I did not have to do that this time. I learned that keyword is not a replacement for a good subject search. By following the information given to me and using the successive fractions approach, I was able to find a satisfactory list of pertinent information.
My selections:
Brodie, C. S. (2002). Evaluation of School Library media Specialist. School Library Media
Activities Monthly. 18(7), 34.
Riedling, A. M. (2001) In Search of Who We Are: The School Library Media Specialist in the
21st Century. Book Report. 20(3), 28-30,32.
Stephens, C., & Franklin, P. (2005). Managment Matters. Your Role as a School Library Media
Specialist. School Library Activities Monthly. 22(2), 45-46.
Naive Question: What types of duties might elementary school librarians have?
Previously I searched for duties of a librarian that pertained to curriculum, but I changed the topic a little to encompass any and all duties a librarian might have.
For my first search strategy I chose to use the successive fractions approach using the ERIC/First Search Database. I previously used this database and wanted to rely on those previous experiences to aid in this search. This particular database was user-friendly.
I have had some difficulty in creating a really good search statement on the first try in previous searches. Using the successive fractions approach will be a good strategy for helping me with this problem. According to this strategy, I am to begin broad and then narrow my search as needed.
This is my second time to complete this assignment. This time I applied information given to me by Dr. Perryman. I made sure that my facet and key terms were the same thing. This really helped narrow my search.
Searching ERIC/First Search:
I listed my facets and terms. Next, I used the database's thesaurus to search for similar terms.
Facets/Key Terms:
duties, librarian, elementary school
1st facet: duties
*initial terms - job descriptions, roles
**thesaurus terms - occupational information
2nd facet: librarian
*initial terms - school librarian, library media specialist
**thesaurus terms - medial specialist, library personnel
3rd facet: elementary school
*initial terms - grade schools
**thesaurus terms - schools
Key term results:
According to the successive fractions approach, my beginning facet would be the term that produced the greatest number of results. Therefore, I performed a subject search on each key term/facet phrase to determine which generated the most hits.
Using the advanced search option, I performed the following searches:
ss1 (using subject headings) - (duties OR job descriptions OR roles OR occupational information) - 9,498 hits
ss2 (using subject headings) - (librarian OR school librarian OR library media specialist OR media specialist OR library personnel) - 4, 320 hits
ss3 (using subject headings) - (elementary schools OR grade schools OR schools) - 130,602 hits
Narrowing the search:
In keeping with the successive fractions approach, I need to begin my search using the facet that produced the largest number of hits. From there I will narrow my search by gradually adding facets. Using this strategy, I performed the following searches in the advanced search mode using subject headings.
ss1: using the advanced search option and searching using subject fields:
(elementary schools OR grade schools OR schools) AND (duties OR job descriptions OR roles OR occupational information)
results: 901 hits
notes: The results had to do with all types of school personnel duties. I know that I need to narrow the search to include only the duties of a librarian.
ss2: (elementary schools OR grade schools OR schools) AND (duties OR job descriptions OR roles OR occupational information) AND (librarian OR school librarian OR library media specialist OR media specialist OR library personnel)
results: 8
notes: The results were far fewer than the previous searches. I felt that I was missing a lot of relevant information. I looked over the search statements and decided to apply truncation to expand my search some in hopes of retrieving pertinent information without adding a lot of junk to the retrieval list.
ss3: (elementary school* OR grade school* OR school*) AND (dut* OR job description* OR role* OR occupational information) AND (librarian* OR school librarian* OR library media specialist* OR media specialist* OR library personnel)
results: 67
notes: This was a much more successful search. In looking through the retrieval list, I was able to find a good selection of pertinent information. Applying truncation was a good next step.
Overall conclusion:
The successive fractions approach is easy to use even for a novice searcher. Using the thesaurus to find key terms and then searching each one to evaluate the results is beneficial to visual learners. From the beginning, one gets an idea of how much information is available on each term which helps guide the search.
This was my second time to go through this assignment. I learned a great deal by applying the changes Dr. Perryman suggested. I went back and made sure that my terms and facets were the same before performing my search. That alone really narrowed my search down considerably.
In hindsight, I should have applied truncation before my third search. However; this is a learning experience, and I wanted to document my search the way I went through the process. I feel this is an important aspect of self reflection.
In my previous search I used a keyword search at the end to acquire a better retrieval list. I did not have to do that this time. I learned that keyword is not a replacement for a good subject search. By following the information given to me and using the successive fractions approach, I was able to find a satisfactory list of pertinent information.
My selections:
Brodie, C. S. (2002). Evaluation of School Library media Specialist. School Library Media
Activities Monthly. 18(7), 34.
Riedling, A. M. (2001) In Search of Who We Are: The School Library Media Specialist in the
21st Century. Book Report. 20(3), 28-30,32.
Stephens, C., & Franklin, P. (2005). Managment Matters. Your Role as a School Library Media
Specialist. School Library Activities Monthly. 22(2), 45-46.
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