Re: SEC: Search Terminology

[Dan Robinson / Indexing Services <drobinson@INFO.HWWILSON.COM>]

Do your online databases have a browsable list? Encouraging the
students to use the list first might be the answer. Let them see how
the database constructs the searchable terms and you might have more
success.

Maybe some sort of scavenger hunt lesson would work. Instead of just
finding the term, they would also have to give you the surrounding
two or three terms in addition to the target.  It's a good way to
show whether or not a term is even in a particular database.

This type of exploration would also point out the differences among
the different databases in subject display and searching.

<grin> Thinking back to an earlier discussion about print vs
electronic indexes, it sounds as if these students have successfully
transfered the inability to use printed indexes to electronic
databases. </grin>.

Dan Robinson
Editoral Specs Specialist
H.W. Wilson Company
Bronx, NY
drobinson@info.hwwilson.com

(for those who are not familiar with html coding, the <grin> marks
the beginning of a humorous aside, and the </grin> closes it. this
brings the <grin> code up-to-date with html v3.2)


> The students at my school are so inflexible about the search terms
> they use.  Whether they are using the online catalog, a CD ROM tool
> or the Internet, they simply try one term and if they don't get the
> results they want they give up.  I am looking for some effective
> ways to teach them to develop a search vocabulary when they are
> doing research (besides just lecturing them about it).  Any ideas
> out there for some interactive ways to encourage the students to
> search more effectively?  I will post a hit. Thanks in advance for
> taking the time to answer.
>
> Beth McDonough, Media Specialist
> 60 Lee's Creek Road
> Erwin High School
> Asheville, NC 28806
> eamcdono@bulldog.unca.edu