Computers are basically giant calculators. Databases and search engines can't think of words the same way we do - as signs representing meanings. They have to think of a word as a thing that can be used in sums.
An illustration I like using is to think about a deck of cards. You can tell the computer to find all of the black cards and it will. You can tell it to find all of the hearts, and it will. You can tell it to find all of the Jacks, and it will - but you can't tell it to find a royal flush, because then it has to think about how the cards relate to each other. Unless you tell the computer exactly what cards are in a royal flush, then it won't be able to find one for you.
This is where Boolean Operators come in. They act as commands telling the computer how the words relate to each other and what should be done about them.
The most common Boolean terms are AND, OR and NOT.
AND tells the database to look specifically for documents that have both of the terms you are searching for. For example, if you ran a search for "rotator cuff", you might get several hundred results. If you ran a search for "injury", you might get several thousand. Most of those articles would be completely useless for an assignment about rotator cuff injuries. However, if you searched for "rotator cuff" AND "injury", the database would only return search results with both terms. It would not find any articles about rotator cuffs that did not include the word "injury", nor would it return any articles about injuries that did not mention "rotator cuff". This could cut the results down from thousands to only a hundred or so. Any other terms you added with an AND would cut the number of results even further.
But what if there was a brilliant journal article that consistently used the word "shoulder" instead of "rotator cuff"? The search above wouldn't find it, because it was missing one of the essential search terms.
This is where OR comes in.
You use OR to tell the database or search engine that these words are interchangeable, and you and happy to accept any article with either (or both). So, ("rotator cuff" OR "shoulder") AND "injury" should pick up any articles that use "shoulder" instead of "rotator cuff", and make sure the word "injury" is included. The brackets in this case are just like the brackets in a mathematical problem - they help the computer to know which 'sums' to do first in the 'equation'.
OR can also help with controlling your search. Say you particularly wanted to know about rotator cuff injuries in sports that involve over-arm bowling. The most obvious ones are cricket and baseball, so you could run a search that looked like this: ("rotator cuff" OR "shoulder") AND ("cricket" OR "baseball") AND "injury".
You will probably find the thousands of results you had to start with have now been whittled down to twenty or so.
Now, if you found you were constantly getting articles about lacrosse, and you wanted to get rid of them from your search results, you would think about using NOT.
NOT basically tells the database or search engine to shut out any articles containing those terms. So, adding NOT "lacrosse" to your search would get rid of any articles containing the word "lacrosse".
Of course, there might be a really good article that uses the word "lacrosse" in one sentence, and the database will reject it just like all of the other lacrosse related articles. You should think carefully about using NOT in your searches. It can be very useful for getting rid of 'noise', but it can have it's downside.
There are other Boolean Operators that you can use in different databases and search engines, but these three are standard for almost all of them. You should check the database guides for the particular database you want to use to see what other operators it offers you.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Constructing a Search Strategy #1 - Key Terms
If you want to find good information for your assignments, you'll need a good plan of attack.
Your "search strategy" is the plan of attack you come up with before you even try to use a catalogue or a database. As you undertake your search, your strategy will evolve and change, but you need to have an idea of what you are going to look for and how you are going to look for it before you even start.
The first step is to sit down with your assignment and take a good look at the question you want to answer. Pull out all of the key terms and write them down on a blank sheet of paper.
The key words are the nouns and verbs, and any adjectives or adverbs that are necessarily linked to those nouns and verbs.
For example, in the sentence "Find three treatments for rotator-cuff injuries and discuss their relative merits, using systematic reviews and clinical trials to illustrate your conclusions" the following key terms can be found:
From there, highlight the words that are telling you to do something (the "action terms") in one colour and ignore them for the time being. If we take the above example:
The exact number of treatments you need to find could be considered part of the instructions, so you could make that first point "Find three".
This leaves you with a number of key terms that can be used to form your search strategy:
Now you need to sit down with a fresh piece of paper and brain storm those key terms. What other words can you think of that are related to those terms? Are there any synonyms that might be used instead? Any antonyms which might be relevant?
Think about how the terms relate to each other. Which terms should you search for together, and which should be broken up for the search? For example, "Rotator-cuff injuries" should probably be split up, as both "rotator-cuff" and "injuries" have a number of synonyms and it would be easier to use them if the two terms weren't always linked.
Are there any terms which might make the search more difficult and should be kept out for the time being (in this example, "Relative merits" describes the kind of information you are looking for, rather than something you need to find information about). It also describes something you should be doing with this information (comparing the merits), so perhaps this term should be moved to your list of "action" words.
Now you should have a list of terms that you can use to look for information. How you use those terms depends on what search tools you are using. Is it a library catalogue? A journals database? An Internet search engine?
We'll look at each of these in future posts.
Before we leave this topic, though, I should point out that the "action terms" (the ones we are ignoring for the search) are still very important, and you should keep that list of them somewhere safe. When you have finished finding the information you need, those "action terms" will tell you what you need to do with it in order to pass the assignment. Definitely worth paying attention to.
Your "search strategy" is the plan of attack you come up with before you even try to use a catalogue or a database. As you undertake your search, your strategy will evolve and change, but you need to have an idea of what you are going to look for and how you are going to look for it before you even start.
The first step is to sit down with your assignment and take a good look at the question you want to answer. Pull out all of the key terms and write them down on a blank sheet of paper.
The key words are the nouns and verbs, and any adjectives or adverbs that are necessarily linked to those nouns and verbs.
For example, in the sentence "Find three treatments for rotator-cuff injuries and discuss their relative merits, using systematic reviews and clinical trials to illustrate your conclusions" the following key terms can be found:
- Find
- Three treatments
- Rotator-cuff injuries
- Discuss
- Relative merits
- Systematic reviews
- Clinical trials
- Illustrate
- Conclusions
From there, highlight the words that are telling you to do something (the "action terms") in one colour and ignore them for the time being. If we take the above example:
- Find
- Discuss
- Illustrate
- Conclusions
The exact number of treatments you need to find could be considered part of the instructions, so you could make that first point "Find three".
This leaves you with a number of key terms that can be used to form your search strategy:
- Treatments
- Rotator-cuff injuries
- Relative merits
- Systematic reviews
- Clinical trials
Now you need to sit down with a fresh piece of paper and brain storm those key terms. What other words can you think of that are related to those terms? Are there any synonyms that might be used instead? Any antonyms which might be relevant?
Think about how the terms relate to each other. Which terms should you search for together, and which should be broken up for the search? For example, "Rotator-cuff injuries" should probably be split up, as both "rotator-cuff" and "injuries" have a number of synonyms and it would be easier to use them if the two terms weren't always linked.
Are there any terms which might make the search more difficult and should be kept out for the time being (in this example, "Relative merits" describes the kind of information you are looking for, rather than something you need to find information about). It also describes something you should be doing with this information (comparing the merits), so perhaps this term should be moved to your list of "action" words.
Now you should have a list of terms that you can use to look for information. How you use those terms depends on what search tools you are using. Is it a library catalogue? A journals database? An Internet search engine?
We'll look at each of these in future posts.
Before we leave this topic, though, I should point out that the "action terms" (the ones we are ignoring for the search) are still very important, and you should keep that list of them somewhere safe. When you have finished finding the information you need, those "action terms" will tell you what you need to do with it in order to pass the assignment. Definitely worth paying attention to.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Getting the Most out of Orientation
Orientation Week at the beginning of each semester is a time when most departments are trying to give you whatever information you need to hit the ground running.
The orientation week at the beginning of first semester can be daunting. This is the time when the most new students are trying to find their way around the university or college. The crowds can be large and the information a little out of context as you don't know what you need to know just yet. Many students can find orientation week a little disorienting.
It is still well worth your while to attend, though, and if you can push through the stress of all the newness, you will learn some things to your advantage.
The O-week for second semester is usually a bit less stressful. Crowds are smaller and there are fewer events to attend, so its easier to work out what you want to see.
It's always a good idea for a new student to attend the orientation week sessions before starting studies, but it can also be useful for first year students to attend the o-week for the next semester as well. By this stage in time you would have a better idea of what you need to know to make the most of your studies (or at least to make things easier while studying at university/college) - the sessions may seem more relevant as they might be answering some questions instead of giving you information out of context.
To get the most out of any orientation week you should look at attending sessions offered by your School and the Library. A good rule of thumb is to try to attend at least two sessions offered by each. Beyond that, you should also make a point of attending at least one social event - preferably something that gives you the chance to find out what sort of groups and clubs are around the campus.
A little bit of effort put in during orientation week can make the rest of your semester run much more smoothly, so it's worth pulling out your new student diary and marking in a few sessions.
The orientation week at the beginning of first semester can be daunting. This is the time when the most new students are trying to find their way around the university or college. The crowds can be large and the information a little out of context as you don't know what you need to know just yet. Many students can find orientation week a little disorienting.
It is still well worth your while to attend, though, and if you can push through the stress of all the newness, you will learn some things to your advantage.
The O-week for second semester is usually a bit less stressful. Crowds are smaller and there are fewer events to attend, so its easier to work out what you want to see.
It's always a good idea for a new student to attend the orientation week sessions before starting studies, but it can also be useful for first year students to attend the o-week for the next semester as well. By this stage in time you would have a better idea of what you need to know to make the most of your studies (or at least to make things easier while studying at university/college) - the sessions may seem more relevant as they might be answering some questions instead of giving you information out of context.
To get the most out of any orientation week you should look at attending sessions offered by your School and the Library. A good rule of thumb is to try to attend at least two sessions offered by each. Beyond that, you should also make a point of attending at least one social event - preferably something that gives you the chance to find out what sort of groups and clubs are around the campus.
A little bit of effort put in during orientation week can make the rest of your semester run much more smoothly, so it's worth pulling out your new student diary and marking in a few sessions.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Tips for Studying in Block Mode, #1
Ah, yes, block mode.
An interesting form of study. On the one hand it gets subjects over and done with rather quickly, on the other hand it's a bit like the Tour de France: a hard slog that barely gives you time to notice how much you're hurting.
My first tip for surviving... er... studying in block mode is to think about it as an endurance sport. You won't get anywhere by thinking about how big an undertaking the whole thing is, you have to take it one manageable stage at a time.
So, think about each week as a stage in your tour. Set goals to achieve for that week, and give yourself a reward for every goal that you can tick off your list. Even giving yourself a gold star can make the world seem like a brighter place.
Don't worry so much about the work you have to do next week. Next week is a good enough time to worry about that. Of course, if you have something due on the Monday of next week, you might want to incorporate it into this week's goals...
And, remember, the library is still there, and the librarians have less students to work with at the moment, which gives them more time to help you. They're more than happy to help you tackle the research you need for your assignments.
So, remember, you've got a support crew and you only have to tackle the studies one stage at a time. You're not doing it all on your own, and you're not doing it all in one hit. Breathe, put 'one foot in front of the other' and work steadily. You'll get there in the end.
An interesting form of study. On the one hand it gets subjects over and done with rather quickly, on the other hand it's a bit like the Tour de France: a hard slog that barely gives you time to notice how much you're hurting.
My first tip for surviving... er... studying in block mode is to think about it as an endurance sport. You won't get anywhere by thinking about how big an undertaking the whole thing is, you have to take it one manageable stage at a time.
So, think about each week as a stage in your tour. Set goals to achieve for that week, and give yourself a reward for every goal that you can tick off your list. Even giving yourself a gold star can make the world seem like a brighter place.
Don't worry so much about the work you have to do next week. Next week is a good enough time to worry about that. Of course, if you have something due on the Monday of next week, you might want to incorporate it into this week's goals...
And, remember, the library is still there, and the librarians have less students to work with at the moment, which gives them more time to help you. They're more than happy to help you tackle the research you need for your assignments.
So, remember, you've got a support crew and you only have to tackle the studies one stage at a time. You're not doing it all on your own, and you're not doing it all in one hit. Breathe, put 'one foot in front of the other' and work steadily. You'll get there in the end.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Exam Tips #2
Cheat sheets are the way to go.
"What do you mean?" I hear you cry. "Surely we are not allowed to cheat?!"
That's very noble of you, but I don't actually expect you to use the sheets to cheat. It's just worth your while to prepare them as if you were going to.
Go through all of your notes from the semester (and those of anyone else in your study group) and put together a sheet of things you would like to take into the exam with you if you were going to cheat.
What things are you so certain will be on the exam that you would take in some ready made notes? What areas are you so weak in that, should you see a question about them on an exam paper, you would go into a cold sweat and wish you had some notes to cheat with?
Do this a couple of days before the exam, then read over them a couple of times everyday up until "D-Day" (and as many times as you think you need to just before the exam). Read them aloud, if you can. Read them to someone else (like your room-mate, mother or dog) - even though it bores them to tears.
You will be pleasantly surprised by the fact that you will be able to bring these sheets into the exam with you. Not physically, of course, but in your head. They will be as fresh in your mind as the TV show you watched last night.
Of course, if you're the kind of person who can't remember what they watched on TV last night, you may need to use them to cheat...
But, of course, you won't do that. Will you?
"What do you mean?" I hear you cry. "Surely we are not allowed to cheat?!"
That's very noble of you, but I don't actually expect you to use the sheets to cheat. It's just worth your while to prepare them as if you were going to.
Go through all of your notes from the semester (and those of anyone else in your study group) and put together a sheet of things you would like to take into the exam with you if you were going to cheat.
What things are you so certain will be on the exam that you would take in some ready made notes? What areas are you so weak in that, should you see a question about them on an exam paper, you would go into a cold sweat and wish you had some notes to cheat with?
Do this a couple of days before the exam, then read over them a couple of times everyday up until "D-Day" (and as many times as you think you need to just before the exam). Read them aloud, if you can. Read them to someone else (like your room-mate, mother or dog) - even though it bores them to tears.
You will be pleasantly surprised by the fact that you will be able to bring these sheets into the exam with you. Not physically, of course, but in your head. They will be as fresh in your mind as the TV show you watched last night.
Of course, if you're the kind of person who can't remember what they watched on TV last night, you may need to use them to cheat...
But, of course, you won't do that. Will you?
Monday, June 2, 2008
Exam Tips #1
When preparing for exams, check to see if the library holds any past exam papers (the School might, if the library doesn't).
You will get a feeling for the kinds of questions asked on the exams, and the sorts of information you need to refresh. Try to answer every question on the past exams as part of your preparation - even if you only use a couple of sentences.
You will also find that past exams are often mined for questions for current exams. They might not ask the exact same questions from year to year, but they will probably touch on the same themes.
If there are any "themes" you don't feel one hundred percent confident with, that should help you guide your revision.
Also, hit the library or the Internet to come up with some great quotes to answer a few of those questions and "keep them up your sleeve". You might get the chance to use them in the actual exam, and it will impress the socks off your markers.
You will get a feeling for the kinds of questions asked on the exams, and the sorts of information you need to refresh. Try to answer every question on the past exams as part of your preparation - even if you only use a couple of sentences.
You will also find that past exams are often mined for questions for current exams. They might not ask the exact same questions from year to year, but they will probably touch on the same themes.
If there are any "themes" you don't feel one hundred percent confident with, that should help you guide your revision.
Also, hit the library or the Internet to come up with some great quotes to answer a few of those questions and "keep them up your sleeve". You might get the chance to use them in the actual exam, and it will impress the socks off your markers.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Best Practice - Print vs Digital
Modern technology is fabulous, isn't it? I can't remember the last time I wrote anything important by hand (unless it was under exam conditions), and I have to admit that half the time what I write never escapes the bounds of electricity.
There are problems involved with information that is purely digital, though. For example, the other day I was going through some of my old storage boxes when I found a whole pile of five-and-a-quarter-inch floppy discs. I remembered using them on the old school computers, back in the day when I used WordPerfect 5.1 on DOS.
Strangely, I actually remembered some of the files that were on those discs - short stories and poems I wrote for assignments and competitions. Part of me wouldn't have minded being able to read them to see if they were worth trying to salvage. Of course, I don't have ready access to a computer which can read the discs, let alone the files, so in the end I decided I didn't care about any of them enough to track down a way to retrieve them.
There-in lies one of the basic problems with digital technology - things change too quickly, and something that was just fine five years ago can present problems with retrieval today.
So what's the best practice involving digital material?
First of all, check your files periodically. Most computers are backwards compatible... to an extent. They can open something three years old without too much trouble, but if it was created on a version of the program that has been superseded too often you might have trouble.
You should go through your folders and see if there is anything you particularly want to keep. Then open them with the most modern version of the program (or alternative to that program) that you can use and save it in the newer format. Yes, this is time consuming. So is spring cleaning. Both are worth doing. In reality you'll probably only need to do this every two or three years, but you should make sure you take the time to do it.
Secondly, have more than one copy of any important files - and have them on different storage devices. Discs are rapidly becoming things of the past and USB drives will someday follow suit, but these things to have a brief cross-over period. Also, some of the "next big things" in data storage are shockingly short-lived. Make sure you have copies of your important files on the last most popular thing as well as the next big thing - but also keep a copy on an honest to goodness hard-drive.
Thirdly, anything that is terribly important (and this especially applies to the assignment that's due this Friday) should also exist in print form for as long as it's needed. Why? Because computers are evil and are secretly trying to mess with your head. Should all else fail and you loose every digital copy you can access, having the print copy on hand means you don't have to completely re-create all of your work.
The joy of paper is that you can still read it long after the printing process that produced it is obsolete. Digital can't match that yet, so don't rely on it entirely.
There are problems involved with information that is purely digital, though. For example, the other day I was going through some of my old storage boxes when I found a whole pile of five-and-a-quarter-inch floppy discs. I remembered using them on the old school computers, back in the day when I used WordPerfect 5.1 on DOS.
Strangely, I actually remembered some of the files that were on those discs - short stories and poems I wrote for assignments and competitions. Part of me wouldn't have minded being able to read them to see if they were worth trying to salvage. Of course, I don't have ready access to a computer which can read the discs, let alone the files, so in the end I decided I didn't care about any of them enough to track down a way to retrieve them.
There-in lies one of the basic problems with digital technology - things change too quickly, and something that was just fine five years ago can present problems with retrieval today.
So what's the best practice involving digital material?
First of all, check your files periodically. Most computers are backwards compatible... to an extent. They can open something three years old without too much trouble, but if it was created on a version of the program that has been superseded too often you might have trouble.
You should go through your folders and see if there is anything you particularly want to keep. Then open them with the most modern version of the program (or alternative to that program) that you can use and save it in the newer format. Yes, this is time consuming. So is spring cleaning. Both are worth doing. In reality you'll probably only need to do this every two or three years, but you should make sure you take the time to do it.
Secondly, have more than one copy of any important files - and have them on different storage devices. Discs are rapidly becoming things of the past and USB drives will someday follow suit, but these things to have a brief cross-over period. Also, some of the "next big things" in data storage are shockingly short-lived. Make sure you have copies of your important files on the last most popular thing as well as the next big thing - but also keep a copy on an honest to goodness hard-drive.
Thirdly, anything that is terribly important (and this especially applies to the assignment that's due this Friday) should also exist in print form for as long as it's needed. Why? Because computers are evil and are secretly trying to mess with your head. Should all else fail and you loose every digital copy you can access, having the print copy on hand means you don't have to completely re-create all of your work.
The joy of paper is that you can still read it long after the printing process that produced it is obsolete. Digital can't match that yet, so don't rely on it entirely.
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