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Library Guide Series

An Example Search

The following steps will be covered here and a short sample search is illustrated below as probably the best way to demonstrate what a search looks like.

  1. Prepare for the search by producing a concept map. This is an outline of the search, much like the outline of a research paper.
  2. Decide which database(s) will produce the best results.
  3. Search for terms individually. Then combine the answer sets in a way that reflects the original query.
    OR
    Perform the search in one statement.
    The computer responds by telling you how many references in the database contain the words you asked about.
  4. Display a sample of the results for a critical review of progress.
  5. Modify the search if necessary to retrieve more or to weed out unwanted citations.
  6. Print out the final results.

Example of a Search

Our assignment is: Is laughter really the best medicine? We need several journal articles from different disciplines

Step 1: Reduce the question to a concept map.


LAUGHTER
 humour, humor, jokes
AND MEDICINE
therapy, therapies, therapeutic, treatment

Step 2: Choose an appropriate database.

Either Medline (medicine) or PsycINFO (psychology) would be suitable. Login to the database and proceed to the search screen.

Step 3: Make the initial search for similar concepts.

1>  LAUGH* OR HUMOUR OR HUMOR OR JOKES
          #1    458 documents

(Result) 458 documents with those terms. The asterisk is a truncation symbol

2>  THERAP* OR TREATMENT*
          #2  37922 documents

Step 4: Combine sets to reconstruct the original idea.

3>  #1 AND #2
          #3     23 documents

23 documents have at least one of the "humour" words plus at least one of the "therapy" words.

Step 5: Display the results.

4>  DISPLAY #3

AN  89-235467
AU  Smithers-JA, Kelly-W
TI  Therapeutic use of humor in a pediatric 
        ward:  A review of 38 trauma cases.
SO  J Crit Care Med,  1989 July :5(4);329-352
     .
     .
     .
    etc...

Step 6: Print the results.

AN 89-235467
AU Smithers-JA, Kelly-W
TI Therapeutic use of humor in a pediatric ward: A
review of 38 trauma cases.
SO J Crit Care Med, 1989 July :5(4);329-352
LA Eng
AB Clowns armed with joke books attended young trauma
victims as they waited between procedures. . .

June 20, 2005

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Comments and Questions are welcome!

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Last Updated: October 7, 2004