Search strategies
You may be familiar with Internet Search Engines and know how to use them. These skills will be useful to you in the workplace. However, Internet Search Engines are different from quality-controlled information resources. The skills required to use them are also different. It is important that you develop the ability to search all relevant resources including but not limited to Internet search engines. A search will be most effective if you plan it in advance.
- Write down the question that you want to answer;
- Identify the important concepts in the question;
- Write down all of the words that communicate those concepts. For example, as well as 'cats' you might want to search for 'feline'.
- Now formulate a search query (see below).
When you construct your search query, you should tailor it to the resource that you plan to use, e.g. an indexed database or an Internet search engine.
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