Developing a Search Strategy

When you are seeking for specific information on your assignments it is important to develop a search strategy in order to retrieve the best possible results.

* You need to know what you are looking for, so read you topic carefully, identify and underline the most important keywords or phrases.
* Find definitions of unknown terms. Think of synonyms; include singular and plural terms; spelling variations and broader terms.
* Think what type of materials you need: Books, Journals or electronic sources.
* Decide where to begin your search. There are two options: you can use the Library resources and (or) the Internet.


At the Library:

* Locate items using the Library's OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog). There you can find library materials, such as books, contained in a collection in the Library.
* Library print subscriptions of journals and magazines.
* Databases available at you Library. EBSCO is an online reference system accessible via the Internet, which offers a variety of databases from leading information providers.
* Databases available through UWIC libraries. They hold subscriptions to an important number of electronic databases.


On the Internet


You need to be careful when you search on the Internet and check if the information is credible and relevant to the topic. On the Internet you can locate all sorts of information in various forms and through various paths. However, keep in mind the following:


* Thus far, Wikipedia is not considered a credible or appropriate source in the academic environment. It may be used for initila information about a subject, but it is not accepted as source used in papers, projects, or presentations.
* Blogs are not considered appropriate as an appropriate source as well
* Use search engines in a smart way. Use features such as Google Scholar, Google Book, and remember to use the Advanced search options, because you can limit your retrieved results to specific file types for example.
* You can locare useful information on conference web sites, web pages of professional Associations, Organizations or Institutions as well as free online magazines.