1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:09,333 Hello my name is Lisa. Welcome to this video on Creating an effective search strategy 2 00:00:09,333 --> 00:00:13,333 Before you start searching you need to think about your keywords. Those are the words 3 00:00:13,333 --> 00:00:17,333 that you type into a search box or into a database to find information 4 00:00:17,333 --> 00:00:21,333 on your topic 5 00:00:21,333 --> 00:00:25,333 You base your keywords on your question so take your 6 00:00:25,333 --> 00:00:29,333 question and identify the main topic areas. 7 00:00:29,333 --> 00:00:33,333 And then think about alternative terms for each of those 8 00:00:33,333 --> 00:00:37,399 You may be tempted to type your question straight into the search 9 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:42,033 box. However you won't get good results that way. 10 00:00:42,033 --> 00:00:46,666 First of all authors might not be using the same 11 00:00:46,666 --> 00:00:50,666 vocabulary that you are. So if you just type your question in 12 00:00:50,666 --> 00:00:54,299 you are limiting your search to those words 13 00:00:54,300 --> 00:00:58,300 You also need to think about how databases work. They will 14 00:00:58,300 --> 00:01:02,300 usually match your search word for word and that isn't 15 00:01:02,300 --> 00:01:06,300 the best way of getting information out of a database. 16 00:01:06,300 --> 00:01:10,300 Let's look at how to manage a search. So if we take this as our topic What are the challenges 17 00:01:10,300 --> 00:01:14,300 and opportunities for wearable technologies for business? The first thing to think about 18 00:01:14,300 --> 00:01:18,300 is the scope of our question. So we are only 19 00:01:18,300 --> 00:01:22,300 interested in wearable technology in relation business 20 00:01:22,300 --> 00:01:26,300 we are not interested in healthcare. We also have to think about what we actually mean 21 00:01:26,300 --> 00:01:30,300 by wearable technology. So for some people 22 00:01:30,300 --> 00:01:34,300 wearable technology means a pocket watch. But is that really what we are looking 23 00:01:34,300 --> 00:01:38,300 for? So make sure you clarify the meaning for your keywords 24 00:01:38,300 --> 00:01:42,300 Think about potential meanings. What you are looking for 25 00:01:42,300 --> 00:01:46,300 so the most relevant and recent information. I know 26 00:01:46,300 --> 00:01:50,300 that what I mean by wearable technology is fitness 27 00:01:50,300 --> 00:01:54,300 trackers or Fitbits. I don't actually mean pocket watches or 28 00:01:54,300 --> 00:01:58,300 even glasses which some people might think of wearable 29 00:01:58,300 --> 00:02:02,300 technology. So back to our question. We have our main 30 00:02:02,300 --> 00:02:06,300 topic areas.We've got wearable technology and business 31 00:02:06,300 --> 00:02:10,300 Those are the two most things that have to appear in all 32 00:02:10,300 --> 00:02:14,300 of our results. We also have challenges and opportunities 33 00:02:14,300 --> 00:02:18,300 and I am not going to include that in my search because it is unusual for authors 34 00:02:18,300 --> 00:02:22,300 to actually use those words. I'm just going to focus on the main 35 00:02:22,300 --> 00:02:26,300 core of my question which is wearable technology and business. 36 00:02:26,300 --> 00:02:28,500 37 00:02:28,500 --> 00:02:32,500 A way fo finding alternative terms for your keywords 38 00:02:32,500 --> 00:02:36,166 is to consider synonyms. 39 00:02:36,166 --> 00:02:40,166 The ones I have on the screen are quite colloqual. That is not the terminology that a 40 00:02:40,166 --> 00:02:44,166 an academic or scientific writer would use so one of the things you need to 41 00:02:44,166 --> 00:02:48,166 consider when you are thinking about alternative terms is what 42 00:02:48,166 --> 00:02:52,166 vocabulary would an academic writer use. 43 00:02:52,166 --> 00:02:56,166 So from my question and I've got the keyword wearable technology 44 00:02:56,166 --> 00:03:00,166 I've managed to think about some alternative terms like wearable 45 00:03:00,166 --> 00:03:04,166 sensors and wearable devices. And at this point I might do a little bit of light 46 00:03:04,166 --> 00:03:08,166 searching on Google Scholar or on Discover 47 00:03:08,166 --> 00:03:12,166 to try and find some other keywords and alternative terms 48 00:03:12,166 --> 00:03:16,166 This searching would help me narrow down my topic 49 00:03:16,166 --> 00:03:20,166 and allow me to think about my to think about the different aspects 50 00:03:20,166 --> 00:03:24,166 of the subject and feel confident 51 00:03:24,166 --> 00:03:28,932 that I've found accurate keywords for my search. 52 00:03:28,933 --> 00:03:32,166 If your topic is very large you might need to break your search down 53 00:03:32,166 --> 00:03:36,166 into managable sections. You can do this my breaking your topic down 54 00:03:36,166 --> 00:03:40,166 into time segments or narrowing 55 00:03:40,166 --> 00:03:44,166 by topic area. You can also use narrower keywords 56 00:03:44,166 --> 00:03:48,166 to allow you to have a more focussed search. 57 00:03:48,166 --> 00:03:52,166 So I can add the narrow terms of smart textiles and smart clothing 58 00:03:52,166 --> 00:03:56,166 to my search. A good place to find alternative terms is 59 00:03:56,166 --> 00:04:00,166 to try an online thesaurus. Most databases have one built in. 60 00:04:00,166 --> 00:04:04,166 This database, ProQuest Central, has one. If you go into 61 00:04:04,166 --> 00:04:08,166 advance search and you will see the option thesaurus. 62 00:04:08,166 --> 00:04:12,166 63 00:04:12,166 --> 00:04:16,166 Now the MESH 2020 that's medical subject headings so we don't want that. 64 00:04:16,166 --> 00:04:20,166 But if you have a look in the ProQuest thesaurus 65 00:04:20,166 --> 00:04:22,166 66 00:04:22,166 --> 00:04:26,166 So let's have a look in this term here wearable computers. 67 00:04:26,166 --> 00:04:30,166 And if we click here we'll see any narrower terms or related terms 68 00:04:30,166 --> 00:04:34,166 There's also Electrotextiles 69 00:04:34,166 --> 00:04:38,166 and we've got Smart materials. So there's some potentially 70 00:04:38,166 --> 00:04:42,166 useful terms here that I will be able to add into my search 71 00:04:42,166 --> 00:04:46,166 So I'll note those new search terms down on my list. 72 00:04:46,166 --> 00:04:49,699 73 00:04:49,700 --> 00:04:53,700 There are some other things you need to consider when planning your search. 74 00:04:53,700 --> 00:04:57,700 Let's look at these in turn. Truncation is a search 75 00:04:57,700 --> 00:05:01,700 technique that allows you to search for multiple endings on a word. 76 00:05:01,700 --> 00:05:04,233 77 00:05:04,233 --> 00:05:08,233 And to do that just use the root of the word and go shift 8 78 00:05:08,233 --> 00:05:11,233 on your keyword to get the star. 79 00:05:11,233 --> 00:05:15,233 Phrase searching is very useful. It's a way of finding two or more words 80 00:05:15,233 --> 00:05:19,233 next to each other and in that order. So if what you are 81 00:05:19,233 --> 00:05:23,233 searching for is a recognised phrase in this case academic writing 82 00:05:23,233 --> 00:05:27,233 if I use double quotation marks 83 00:05:27,233 --> 00:05:31,233 the computer will find that phrase rather than those words separately. 84 00:05:31,233 --> 00:05:35,233 That's just shift and 2 on a standard UK keyword. 85 00:05:35,233 --> 00:05:39,233 You also have to consider you search limits. Commom ones include date 86 00:05:39,233 --> 00:05:43,233 so how old can the information be and it still be relevant 87 00:05:43,233 --> 00:05:47,233 and useful to you. What part of the world are you looking at? 88 00:05:47,233 --> 00:05:51,233 Does it matter which country the information comes from? 89 00:05:51,233 --> 00:05:55,233 And also are you looking at a particular sector or industry? 90 00:05:55,233 --> 00:05:59,233 In general when you're searching always remember the three Rs 91 00:05:59,233 --> 00:06:03,233 which are recent, relevant and 92 00:06:03,233 --> 00:06:07,233 reliable. Recent- you are looking of the most up to date research 93 00:06:07,233 --> 00:06:11,233 in your field. Only read and include information that is directly 94 00:06:11,233 --> 00:06:15,233 relevant to your topic. It is also important that the information 95 00:06:15,233 --> 00:06:19,233 sources you are using are reliable. Going through the GCU library 96 00:06:19,233 --> 00:06:23,233 website gives you an assurance that the sources that you are using will be of 97 00:06:23,233 --> 00:06:29,499 good quality. Thanks for watching. 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