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Formulating search strings

Formulating search strings. Finding Online Health Information Workshop I Vietnam National Training Programme. Once we reach a resource, we want to do ’good’ searches. Efficient : takes little time Effective: finds what you want. Good searches require good search strings. Spelling

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Formulating search strings

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  1. Formulating search strings Finding Online Health Information Workshop I Vietnam National Training Programme

  2. Once we reach a resource, we want to do ’good’ searches Efficient : takes little time Effective: finds what you want

  3. Good searches require good search strings • Spelling • Truncation • Boolean operators (AND/OR) • Choice of terms • Punctuation

  4. Does system use American or British spelling? Are compound words hypenated, open, closed? anemia, anaemia HIV-AIDS, HIV/AIDS preeclampsia, pre-eclampsia Spelling

  5. Does the system allow truncation? What is a reasonable stem? child* = child, child’s, children, children’s, childhood med* Truncation

  6. Does the system support Boolean searches? What operators are recognized? Which one applies for this search? term operator term AND, OR, NOT, …. AND/OR is especially tricky Boolean operators

  7. It takes practice to get it right….

  8. I want to find the references that are about either bananas or guavas I want to find the references that are about both bananas and guavas

  9. OR AND NOT

  10. Right level? In ’vocabulary’? Unnecessary? Malaria GBV, spousal abuse Impact of community-based programmes on malaria- conected deaths among children Choice of terms

  11. Start with the search phrase impact of community-based projects on malaria-related deaths among children in Vietnam Remove unnecessary words (impact, based, related, among, Vietnam) community projects malaria deaths children Use truncation where appropriate communit* projects malaria child* deaths

  12. Remove words that have too many alternatives (projects) communit* malaria child* deaths Identify major alternatives to essential terms communit* malaria child* death* mortality survival Write new search phrase with Boolean operators communit* AND malaria AND child* AND (death* OR survival OR mortality)

  13. Punctuation (4 x 8) + 7 = 39 is not the same as 4 x (8 + 7) = 60

  14. A AND B AND (C OR D) is not the same as (A AND B AND C) OR D

  15. Should limits be used? What types of limits are available & appropriate? Size of ’hit list’ Year(s), language, full text availability, type of article, etc. Even with a good search string, you may also needs limits

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