INIS Training Seminar Principles of Information Retrieval and Query F ormulation

1. INIS Training SeminarPrinciplesofInformation Retrievaland Query Formulation Bekele Negeri INIS Unit Nuclear Information Specialist 07 – 11 October 2013 Vienna, Austria

2. Outline • Databases (Textual) types • Planning searches • Formulating queries • Measure of Search effectiveness • Using search results and queries INIS Training Seminar

3. Databases (textual) • Databases consist of data (records) described in fields and a means by which to search these fields, a search engine. • Databases may look different on screen but the underlying principles for searching and formulating search strategies are common to all. INIS Training Seminar

4. Bibliographic Databases (Types) • Bibliographic Databases: provide only citation or reference author(s), title, subject(s) and publisher..) and with this information you should be able to locate the item in the Library. • Bibliographic with some full text content: these enhanced databases include keywords and abstracts and often, but not always, include the full text of an article. • Bibliographic databases with full text content: these databases include the entire full text for all articles and other documents indexed. INIS Training Seminar

5. Planning your search • “Understanding the Problem is Half of the Solution” • Define precisely the information you are seeking • Identify the concepts that represent the problem INIS Training Seminar

6. Planning a search: example Risk of medical radiation exposure? • To whom: to patientsordoctorsand medical technicians? • If to patients: are you concerned about exposure due to radiodiagnostics(CT, X-ray..) or due to radiation therapy or both? • If radiotherapy: are you concerned about radionuclide therapy orexternal irradiation therapy? • If about personnel:are you interested about safety policyof medical establishements? INIS Training Seminar

7. Planning your search (Cont’d) • Topic: Risk of radiation exposure of medical staff in a radiotherapy department • Concepts: • Exposure to radiation • Medical staff • Radiotherapy • Are we looking for documents • In certain language, from certain country.. • Latest publications • Only records with full text documents, or journal citations..? INIS Training Seminar

8. IINIS Database Fields • Numerical (Exact or Range search) • Year of publication (PY) • Reference Number (RN) • Free Text • Title (TI) Authors (AU) • Source (SO) Abstract (AB) • Controlled Vocabulary • Language (LA) • Country of Input (CO) • Descriptors (DE) • Indexer-assigned descriptors (DEI) • Computer-upposted descriptors (DEC) INIS Training Seminar

9. Search Strategy • Simple search • single search term or phrase • “Oncology” , “nuclear safety” • Advanced search (combining concepts) • Boolean Operators: OR, AND, NOT • Text Operators any(includes any), all(includes all), exact phrase • Numeric Operators equal, more, less, moreor equal, less or equal • Truncation, Wildcard • Multilingual Search INIS Training Seminar

10. Query Syntax Google Search Appliance INIS Training Seminar

11. Query Formulation • Translating your search concepts into proper search syntax • For the Topic: Risk of radiation exposure of medical staff in a radiotherapy department • Simple to complex • MEDICAL PERSONNEL (is a BT for RADIOLOGICAL PERSONNEL) • OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE or OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY or RADIATION PROTECTION • RADIOTHERAPY • Try to search for individual terms and explore the database; you may identify other key concepts like radiation doses, ALARA, dose limits… • Then combine them using boolean operators (and, or, not) • Some databases allow you to combine searches while others allow you to combine your results during selection of records INIS Training Seminar

12. Measuring Search Effectiveness • Precision & Recall • Recall: the ratio of the number of relevant records retrieved to the total number of relevant records in the database. INIS Training Seminar

13. Precision: the ratio of the number of relevant records retrieved to the total number of irrelevant and relevant records retrieved. • Precision and recall are Inversely related High recall = comprehensive retrieval but high noise High Precision = only relevant records but miss out good records Source: http://www.creighton.edu/fileadmin/user/HSL/docs/ref/Searching_-_Recall_Precision.pdf INIS Training Seminar

14. Optimize your search strategy • Precision • Search in particular field • Search in DEI (indexer assigned descriptor) • Use exact Phrase • Combine using “AND” • Recall • Search across fields • Combine synonyms, related terms, broad or general terms • Use “any” or “all” words • Optimise • Use your best judgment • From simple to complex INIS Training Seminar

15. Using your Query and search results • Selecting relevant records • select format (pdf/ html/excel..) • Printing/saving • Email search results • Storing query • Save and run query • Subscribe Feeds INIS Training Seminar

16. Thank you! INIS Training Seminar