|
Module 1:
Unnecessary Words and Letters in Keyword Searches |
|
©2019 by Chris Niemeyer, University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Screen1 |
|
|
Module 1:
Unnecessary Words and Letters in Keyword Searches |
|
©2019 by Chris Niemeyer, University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Screen1 |
|
|
|
Important electronic databases like ABI/Inform, Academic Search Premier, JSTOR, Medline, and PsycINFO can be found at university libraries around the world.
Such library databases contain a variety of information, much of it from scholarly-scientific journals, that is usually not freely available on the Web. All of these library databases, plus many others, can be searched using keywords. Screen2 |
|
|
|
Keywords are any terms or words that will help you find information.
Other distinctive ways of searching might be by author, by title, and by subject. We will touch on some of these alternate forms later in this tutorial. Screen3 |
|
|
|
Keyword searches are similar to 'natural language' searches that you do on the web. With keywords, you input whatever words or terms you want into a search line:
Screen4 |
|
|
|
Keyword searches are similar to 'natural language' searches that you do on the web. With keywords, you input whatever words or terms you want into a search line:
Screen5 |
r
i
p
-
o
f
f
s
p
e
e
d
t
i
c
k
e
t
i
n
g
b
y
s
m
a
l
l
t
o
w
n
s
|
|
|
This freedom to use whatever vocabulary you choose for a keyword search can make it seem much more 'natural'.
Screen6 |
rip-off speed ticketing by small towns
|
|
|
You can also use technical or formal vocabulary in a keyword search.
Screen7 |
s
p
e
e
d
i
n
g
c
i
t
a
t
i
o
n
s
a
s
s
m
a
l
l
m
u
n
i
c
i
p
a
l
i
t
y
r
e
v
e
n
u
e
s
o
u
r
c
e
|
|
|
With some exceptions, keyword searches are thus very flexible.
Screen8 |
|
|
|
Obviously, if you search in a Web search engine like Google or Yahoo!, you are doing a keyword search.
Screen9 |
|
|
|
So why make a tutorial about keyword searching? After all, aren’t search engines like Google and Yahoo! easy to use?
Isn't keyword searching simple? Screen10 |
|
|
|
The fact is that most library databases DO NOT search like Google, Yahoo!, etc.
Anyone who searches a library database like they would Google or Yahoo! might be disappointed with the results. Screen11 |
|
|
|
The question below, when typed into a Web search engine, could retrieve thousands, if not millions, of relevant hits.
Screen12 |
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents?
|
|
|
But in a library database the question might produce error messages, or else retrieve few or zero results.
Why is that? Screen13 |
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents?
|
|
|
First, many library databases do not process words like articles, pronouns, prepositions, etc., very well even though these are some of the most common words of any language.
The sheer frequency of such (often small) words can derail a search. Screen14 |
|
|
|
It is best to omit these types of words.
In fact, many times it will be necessary to do so. Screen15 |
|
|
|
Also, library databases frequently don’t deal well with single letters that are used as keywords (i.e., “a”, as in
a house, or “I” as in I am Zorro).
Screen16 |
|
|
|
Indeed, every single letter of the alphabet, used as a search term, may cause problems...
Screen17 |
|
|
|
Indeed, every single letter of the alphabet, used as a search term, may cause problems... and should likewise be avoided if possible.
Screen18 |
|
|
| The words below form a special case. Library databases will interpret them in ways that you should understand clearly before using them. Screen19 AND OR NOT |
|
|
|
We will explore this topic with greater depth when we talk about the word:
Screen20 AND OR NOT |
|
|
|
With all of this in mind, the search below can be improved.
Screen21 |
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents?
|
|
|
First, you can immediately remove do and so, which are common words that many library databases have trouble processing.
Screen22 |
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents?
|
|
|
Similarly, you should probably remove a word like many.
Not only is it a common word, but in the sentence below it is probably not even necessary. Screen23 |
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents?
|
|
|
After all, search results may describe thousands or frequent traffic accidents and never use the word many.
Screen24 |
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents?
|
|
|
You should also remove words like why and cause.
Not only are they very common words but both imply a relationship of some kind. Screen25 |
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents?
|
|
|
Of course, search results that concern "cell phones" and "traffic accidents" are already dealing with a causal relationship so it is not necessary to reiterate this by using words like why and cause.
Screen26 |
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents?
|
|
|
You should probably remove traffic.
Search results might concern accidents to cars or automobiles and never mention traffic. Screen27 |
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents?
|
|
|
And then there is the ? at the end of what used to be a question.
Screen28 |
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents?
|
|
|
Generally speaking, Web search engines have little or no problem
with punctuation. But a library database might interpret a ?
and other types of punctuation in such a manner that it may cause problems.
Screen29 |
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents?
|
|
|
Library databases might even interpret a period (".") in unexpected, error-prone ways.
We will discuss issues with punctuation later. Screen30 |
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents?
|
|
|
For now, it is best to remove the ? below, not only because it is not necessary, but also to avoid getting error messages.
Screen31 |
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents?
|
|
|
So here we have it: the original question
Why do cell phones cause so many traffic accidents? has been pared-down to its three most necessary words. Screen32 |
cell phones accidents
|
|
|
This has been helpful pruning. But there is still more work to be done, as we will explain in the next module....
Module finished! Screen33 |
cell phones accidents
|
|
1