CRICOS No. 00213J
Developing an effective Search Strategy
Part 1:What do I need and How do I find it?
CRICOS No. 00213J
Why is a search strategy [Plan] important?
• There is a lot of information out there
• It will help us identify what we need to look for
• It will help us to search more effectively
• It will save us time
CRICOS No. 00213J
You are required to adopt a position on the following statement (agree or disagree/take a side)
The statement :Nurses need to be clever (knowledgeable) to care
State whether you agree or disagree with the statement . Construct an argument to support your position. Justifying and support your position with contemporary evidence from a variety of relevant information sources such as journal articles and textbooks.
Part 1:What do I need and How do I find it?
Your Topic:
CRICOS No. 00213J
For your chosen topic : (1) Identify the
directive words
any limiting words
main concepts
(2) Think of alternative words for each main concept
CRICOS No. 00213J
Directive words – What kind of assignment is this?An analysis? An argument? A discussion? A comparison?
Main Concepts – Identify what this assignment is really about. Three maybe four concepts/words.
CRICOS No. 00213J
You are required to adopt a position on the following statement (agree or disagree/take a side)
The statement :Nurses need to be clever (knowledgeable) to care
State whether you agree or disagree with the statement . Construct an argument to support your position. Justifying and support your position with contemporary evidence from a variety of relevant information sources such as journal articles and textbooks.
Directive word Main Concepts
Your Topic:
CRICOS No. 00213J
Main concepts…
brainstorm alternative words, synonyms, alternate spellings + related terms.
Nurse Nursing, Nurses
Clever science, knowledgeable, educated, competent, technical
Care art, caring, holistic, compassionate, empathetic,
Concept 1
Concept 2
Concept 3
CRICOS No. 00213J
Constructing a Search Strategy using Boolean Operators
Operator OR broadens a search
Nurses200
records
Nursing300
records OR 500 records
Operator AND narrows a search
Clever1000
records
Nurses200
records
AND100
records
CRICOS No. 00213J
Nurse Nursing Nurses
Clever science knowledge competent OR educated OR technical
Care art caring holistic OR compassionate OR empathetic
Our search strategy for your topic:
OR
OR OR OR
OR OR
OR OR
AND
AND
Concept 1
Concept 2
Concept 3
Remember, you don’t have to use all your terms at the same time!
CRICOS No. 00213J
Searching tools
As well as Boolean ‘AND’ and ‘OR’…
Phrase Searching Use “inverted commas” or “quotation marks” around phrases. For eg “early childhood education”, “eating disorders”, “women drivers”.
Truncation Try truncating a term to broaden your search results. The truncation symbol is usually the asterisk
For eg child* , will retrieve the terms children, child, childless , etcFor eg, aggress* , will retrieve the terms aggressive, aggression, etc
CRICOS No. 00213J
Library
CRICOS No.00213J
Division of Technology Information and Learning Support
Where can I use this strategy?
Library CatalogueBooks, videos, DVDs, kits
Internet searchingObscure topics, Government +
organisational reports, company information
Library DatabasesNewspaper + journal articles,
conference papers, theses
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