Produced for use as an example (not exemplary) of different presentation styles for a library study skills course at Central College Nottingham.

1. Information
Retrieval &
Evaluation (1)
Planning & Running an Information Search

2. Research is not just
academic
 Finding a phone number
 Ordering a takeaway
 Selecting a broadband provider
 Joining a gym

3. Information-seeking
Think about a time recently when you were
looking for information.
 How did you identify that you needed
information?
 What did you do to find the information
you required (if you were successful!)?
 When did you stop looking?

4. The research cycle
Plan
Modify
and re- Run the
run the search
search
Save
Retrieve
the
results
results
Evaluate
the
Can you map your
results
example onto this structure?

5. Plan
Beginning your search
Where do you begin?
 Library…
 Course guide…
 Interact pages…
 Or Google?

6. Plan
Planning a search
 What is your research question?
How else could you ask it?
Could it be broken down to smaller questions?
Does the question‟s verb inform your
approach?
 What level and quality of information is needed?
 Do you need up-to-date or historical sources?

7. Plan
Information sources
Anywhere you find information can be called a
source. But some sources are not as reliable as
others.
Match the information sources to their
strengths and weaknesses.
Think about how these strengths can be used
for an assignment, and what you could do to
compensate for the weaknesses.

8. Plan
Unreliable sources
 Anonymous authors
 Bias in information provided
 Unsupported or out-of-date information
 Heavy usage of non-academic style
 Populist or sensational focus
 This applies to magazines as well as
certain websites…

9. Plan
Planning your search
Devise a search plan for the topic using
what has been discussed in this session. You
can use the grid provided or create your own
layout.

10. Run the
Searching sources
search
Retrieve
results
Searching online and with databases
 Search operators („Boolean‟)
 “Phrase searching”
 Advanced search options

11. Run the
Searching sources
search
Browse-searching of collected Retrieve
results
materials
 Dewey classes and library collections
 Subject headings
 Interact page

12. Run the
Searching sources
search
Additional features on Google* Retrieve
results
 Google Scholar – window into the
„hidden web‟
 Search using images and sound
 Tailored results for specific subjects (e.g.
filmographies and cinema listings)
 Search alerts for any search
* Other search engines are available. They‟re just not as good.

13. Run the
Sorting results
search
No quick answer, but the following help:
Retrieve
 „Sort by date‟ brings up-to-date results
information to the top of the search list
 „Sort by relevancy‟ will order the results
according to what the program thinks you
want using complex „learning‟ algorithms.
 „Sort by availability‟ removes inaccessible
sources from the search list, reducing
wasted time trying to access them.

14. Common retrieval Run the
search
problems
 I‟ve got 5m results - information overload!
Retrieve
 your search is too broad. Filter, sort or start again results
 I‟ve got no results!
 Your search is too narrow. Re-calibrate your filters and
try broader or alternate terms
 I‟ve found something which looks good, but can‟t
get to read it!
 If it is an SNC library item, reserve it
 If you found it using Google, check our subscriptions
 Check if you could read it with walk-in access at the local
universities
 It may involve extra work, but a key source can make
the difference between a good grade and a great one!

15. The research cycle
Plan
Modify
and re- Run the
run the search
search
Save
Retrieve
the
results
results
Evaluate
the
results