Assignment #4

BOOLEAN SEARCH STRATEGY:
USING INFOTRAC ADVANCED SEARCH MODE

Due: February 22

Reminder: Be sure to attend the class meetings this week (Feb. 15) and next week (Feb. 22), 6:30 - 9:30; quiz: Feb. 22

Reading:

• Developing a Research Question
• Search Strategy
• Using Web-Based InfoTrac Databases in "Advanced Search" Mode

INFOTRAC ACADEMIC ASAP - available at Skyline Library or other San Mateo County public libraries,
-OR-
you can access it from home on the World Wide Web (with a PLS library card) at: http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/plan_skyline . (the character between plan & skyline is an underline)

Team Project:

The team projects will encompass assignments #4 to #8. Each team will present their final research results to the class at the March 21 class meeting.

Initial topics:

• Team #1: Privacy on the Internet
• Team #2: Copyright on the Internet

This Week's Assignment

All team members should work together during class time and on the class discussion board to complete Part 1 ("Search Preparation") below. Each member of the team should work individually to complete Part 2 ("Search Strategy") below. Team members should communicate via e-mail to complete Part 3 ("Present Team Results").

Part 1: "Search Preparation": Collecting Background Info, Developing Research Question, Identifying Search Terms

1. Starting with the general topic assigned to your team, try to focus in on a more specific aspect that you might be interested in researching. Begin by doing a general "Subject Guide" search in InfoTrac Academic ASAP to try to find some preliminary articles and subject headings on your topic.

• Identify more specific aspects that you could use to narrow your topic.
• List any useful subject headings or key words that could be used in further searching.

2. Based on your preliminary investigation, develop a research question that includes two to four concepts. Each team should designate one member to post the research question on the LSCI 105 discussion board (http://www.smcccd.cc.ca.us/cgi-bin/webbbs/lsci105.pl) under the discussion for your team.

3. Identify any potential search terms (subject headings or key words) for each concept from your initial searching in Academic ASAP (as described in #1 above or any additional searching) and from checking the LCSH.

4. Organize search terms for each concept of your research question using a search worksheet (as shown in the "Search Strategy" reading) and designate one member to post the worksheet on the discussion board under the discussion for your team. (Team members should feel free to suggest additions or changes to the team worksheet and make other comments on the board, as needed.)

Part 2: "Search Strategy"

5. Use Academic ASAP to do a "Boolean Search" ("Advanced search" mode) using "and's" and "or's" for this research question.

a. First, search for all terms in each concept using "or's" to create a separate set for each concept

b. Then search for the overlap between concepts using "and's" between set numbers

*c. After completing all of your searching, save your Search page (which includes your "search history" showing all of your searches) as an HTML (or "source") file with file name: 4-5.html.

*6. Select the 3 best articles you find on the research question and save the page for each as a text file with the file names: 4-6a.txt, 4-6b.txt and 4-6c.txt. (If full text is not available for any article, just save the full information that is shown--usually the citation and abstract.)

7. Revise your research question if necessary.

Part 3: Present Team Results

8. Each team member should communicate via e-mail to identify the 3 best articles they selected for question 6. To do this attach the text files (4-6a.txt, 4-6b.txt and 4-6c.txt) to a message to other team members and to me with a brief explanation of why you selected those 3 articles.

9. All team members should then collaborate--by communicating via e-mail to other team members and to me--to agree on which 3 articles they think would be the most useful for their research question.

DISCUSSION BOARD

Each team should designate one member to post:

• your team research question (question #2)
• your team search worksheet (question #4)

When you use the Discussion Board, remember:

• Click on the discussion for your team (e.g., "Research Team #1")
• Click on "Post a New Response" to post your team's research question & worksheet
• Do not click on " Post a New Message"

SUBMIT INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT RESULTS

E-mail attached files for questions 5 and 6 to: brenner@smcccd.cc.ca.us
Be sure you saved 5 as an html file and 6 as text files, all with the file names specified above.

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These materials may be used for educational purposes if you inform and credit the author and cite the source as: LSCI 105 Online Research. All commercial rights are reserved. Send comments or suggestions to: Eric Brenner at brenner@smccd.net