Hit: Boolean search

[Select Emily Schwartz <TESchwartz@AOL.COM>]

These are the answers that I received on the listserv.

I have used "Boolean Aerobics".  It appears in Joynce Valenza's book Power
Research
Tools.  Perhaps you can get ahold of a copy.  It goes something like
this:
The AND workout:
Stand up if you have brown hair
Remain standing if you have brown hair AND brown eyes
Remain standing you have brown hair AND brown eys AND are wearing
glasses.
Remain stanidng if you have brown hair AND brown eyes AND you are
wering glasses AND you are wearing black shoes.
Questions or Ideas?
Did AND make your search bigger or smaller?
How would you use AND in a search?
The it went on into similar scenarios for OR and for NOT
I also do an activity with high school students that has them working
in groups to try out specific searches and then trying to figure out the
boolean "rule".  Then each group shares their results and their rule
with the whole group.  There is no explanation to go along with it - but
you can see the activity at:
http://www.gananda.org/library/mshslibrary/boolsm2.htm
Perhaps these ideas can be adapted for younger students.

In order for the students to understand that the word "and" actually narrows
the results in Boolean searching, I use the following live demonstration.
I talk with our high school kids about SchoolHouse Rock and conjunction
junction. We normally see the word "and" as a word that indicates more.
I use clothing as my subject base. The students are the "articles in a
database" or "websites". When I say a particular type of clothing such as
"jeans", if the student has on that type they stand up. Then I add other
search terms using the and operator- "jeans and jacket". Each time the
standing crowd gets thinner. I usually keep going until I have one lone
student standing. That student is the "article" or "website" that will best
fit my need.
After that I discuss Boolean searching using OR and NOT with demonstrations.
At the end of the demonstration I use other examples. Our students have to
write a paper on smoking when they are repeat offenders. I talk about only
using smoking and the possibilities of crazy results- smoking pot, smoking
turkeys, etc. The students then give examples of Boolean searching to get a
better result- tobacco and smoking- smoking and cigarettes, etc.
This demonstration gives the students a visual representation of narrowing a
search. I use this in our Freshmen Orientation to the Library Media Center.

Boolean Rummy Rules  Used with Fifth Grade

    This game is designed to help students understand and use Boolean
searching methods.  By matching a Boolean statement to the cards in their
hand they can get rid of matching card and empty their hand.
1.  Shuffle well 2 decks of cards.
2.  Deal out 7 cards to each player
3.  Place the remaining cards on the DRAW space on the board.
4.  Choose a player to start and proceed clock wise around the table taking
turns.
6.  The player takes two cards from the Draw pile and places them in order
drawn on the CARD 1 an CARD 2 spaces on the board.
7.  The player then rolls the die. (You can buy or make blank die.  Mark
with A O and N on two sides each.

    A = And
    O = Or
    N = Not
8.  All players search their hands to see if they have cards that match the
Boolean search statement.  If they have a match they may discard the
matching cards.
Ex.     Q - A - 3  Players must discard a Q AND 3 together
        Q - O - 3  Players may discard a Q OR 3 or both
        Q - N - 3  Players may only discard the Q if they do Not
have 3
        Q  - any roll - Q  Players may discard all their Q
9.  First player to get rid of all their cards is the winner.  sure to
shuffle cards well between
games.

I have been using www.worldsofsearching.org to teach my 6th graders
how to search. I highly recommend it.

The "cheat sheets" offered under the help menu for www.altavista.com
gave me quite a few really cool tips.  See also this site by Jamie McKenzie
who's  a      library science guru making the circuit)  www.fno.org for many
helpful tips.  I'm linking this site to our library home page because it has
an on-line "primer" about Boolean logic with diagrams:
http://library.albany.edu/internet/boolean.html

   I actually print out and distribute this page, then I have the
students do it!  It uses altavista, which may not be considered the most
comprehensive search engine now. It's getting a little out of date now,
because many search engines now "assume" quotation marks, but otherwise,
I've found it very helpful.
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/searching/sevensteps.html

  Thanks to all who sent me this information.

Emily Schwartz Librarian
Dillsburg Elementary
202 S. Chestnut St.
Dillsburg, PA 17019
teschwartz@aol.com

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