Information Technology: Searching for information

Starting a search

The first step of searching is to develop your keywords or search query - this is what you will enter into the search engine

To start:

• Identify the most important and relevant words to your topic by looking at your assignment - these are your keywords
• Use a dictionary, Wikipedia, or other general search to make sure you understand these words
• Conduct some general searches to get an overview of your topic and start identifying what you might focus on searching for
• Brainstorm - look at your assignment topic and try and think of as many words and phrases related to it as possible. Try and use the same language as your lecturers and textbooks use
• Remember to consider alternate spellings and synonyms. This means that you will be gathering all the relevant information and resources/results. 

Filters

When you start searching, you may get a lot of results back. Think of the scope (limits) of your search and try and narrow it down. You can do this using the filters on many databases and the MP library catalogue. 

Common and useful filters include:

• availability (full-text or not)
• resource type (for example: book, academic journal, image)
• publication date (recent or older information)

There are many tools and tricks to help you search accurately and use your keywords effectively. Many databases/search engines will have their own tricks, but some are common and will work across most databases:

• AND - combines terms so that search results results include both
• OR - either or both terms will show up in search results
• NOT - excludes a term from search results
• * - putting an * inside a word or at the end of the word stands for any possible character
• " " - putting your search query inside quotation marks means that your results will match it exactly
• () - use this to combine AND, OR & NOT into a single search query

For more information about using these tricks, see the following videos:

• How library stuff works – Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) from McMaster University Library 
• How library stuff works – Boolean Modifiers (" ", *, ()) from McMaster University Library 

There is a huge amount of information available on the internet, and available through a Google search. Using Google Advanced helps narrow your search down and ensure you are getting information from reliable sources. 

Use the Google Advanced search to set parameters for your search. Limit results with:

• specific web domains and addresses
• more complex search strings
• specific update times
• usage rights

You may also like to investigate other internet search engines such as:

• DuckDuckGo
• Ecosia
• Mojeek

Google Scholar indexes scholarly publications (mostly journal articles, but some books) in a free search tool. With Google Scholar, be mindful that:

• It is free to search and some articles are free to read, but not all articles will be - some will be behind paywalls 

• Google Scholar automatically prioritises results based on their citation metrics (how many times they have been cited), which means you often get older results listed on the first few pages. You can change this manually in the results filters for publication dates

• Use the 'Cited By' tool in the search results to find other articles/books that have cited a particular article - good for finding more and recent resources

• Use keyword/s and not natural language. For example: "climate change" AND "ocean acidification", not 'what is the relationship between climate change and ocean acidification?'

Research Fundamentals

SIFT Method - Evaluating Resources and Misinformation (University of Chicago)

Online Verification Skills by Mike Caulfield -Youtube Playlist

FindIt is the Melbourne Polytechnic Library catalogue. Through FindIt you can access:

• Books and eBooks, including textbooks
• Journals and magazines
• Online videos
• Newspapers

And more! 

For more information about using Findit, see the Melbourne Polytechnic Library's FindIt guide

You cannot always find everything the library has to offer from a FindIt search. You may have to search the Melbourne Polytechnic Library databases directly. Useful databases include:

• EBSCOhost : good for trade publications and peer-reviewed/academic journals. Also contains MarketLine industry reports

• Kanopy : video streaming platform with films and documentaries. Try browsing the Computers and Technology collection

• IBISWorld : comprehensive company and industry reports

• LinkedIn Learning : self-paced video tutorials for technology, business, jobhunting, creative skills