You're back in school, and you're settling down to face those School Based Assessments (SBA's).That means you are plunging into the world of research. Hopefully, you have access to an academic web site such as EBSCO, which is available at NALIS. There's one big benefit to using EBSCO, and that is the fact that you get quality web sites.You don't have to worry about pulling up bogus sites, inaccurate information or plain junk.EBSCO takes time to use.You have to figure out how to do a Boolean search to eliminate or add possibilities for your search, but it's well worth the effort.
If you're going to the library to use EBSCO, don't forget that there is a one-hour time limit on using computers. That means you need to plan for many days of research. Even if you decide to use the Internet, your searches will benefit from knowing how to use a Boolean search.A Boolean search allows you to search for more than one term at a time. Almost all data bases usesome type of Boolean logic.You need to understand how the search engine that you're using formats the Boolean search. For instance, some systems might use the term "and" while others use the sign '+' fora search.Search engines might use different symbols to build more advanced search connections.
Navigating your way through the Internet by using Boolean operators takes some time to master, but it's well worth the effort.Make up your mind to learn to do Boolean searches because you will need to know how to do themwhen you're faced with research papers in university.
Boolean Operators
The Logical Operators:The two most common operators for a Boolean search are "And" and "Or"
AND - Each record you pull up must contain all search terms that you type. This means that (AND tends to narrow a search).If you type in 'French dessert cookbooks AND Ina Garten,' AND will look for all of those terms.
OR - Each record must contain at least one search term.If you type in 'French dessert cookbooks OR Ina Garten,' you get one or the other.(In other words 'OR' tends to broaden a search).
A third logical operator is the NOT operator. This is not highly recommended in secondary school because it is difficult to navigatea way through such searches.The NOT operator eliminates possibilities, but it can sometimes eliminate information you want or need.For instance, I might want to do a research paper on diseases of the cocoa plant, but I don't want Witch's Broom,I could do a search like this:Cocoa AND disease NOT Witch's Broom.That search would eliminate witch's broom, but there might be some useful informationabout cocoa diseases in those articles about Witch's Broom.
You can also see how useful a Boolean search is in this case - if you consider you might be doing a research paper on Cocoa research, but you don't know if it's spelled Witch's broom OR Witches broom. You could take care of that by searching for both terms, getting the correct spelling and then narrowing your term.
Boolean operators really are a challenge and they're fun to play with.They help you to become the best detective you can be when you're doing those research papers..
Debbie Jacob
gieNETWORK Education Consultant
Next week: More on Boolean operators.
