Crafting Search Terms
What do you use instead of questions when searching in a database?
keywords
What can a Librarian help you with?
finding research, citations (and a lot more! open to different answers here!)
Which database should you use when you need a dictionary?
The Oxford English Dictionary
True or false: For a source to be credible it needs to be peer reviewed
False. You can have credible popular sources!
What do you use if you want to search for exact phrasing in your search?
"Quotation Marks"
What are two ways you can ask a Librarian a question at COS?
Go to the circulation desk, call, schedule an appointment, use online chat, send an email, etc.
Go into the Oxford English Dictionary. Find when the word tweet was first used to mean a Twitter/X message (not a bird noise).
2006.
What is a peer reviewed source?
A source written by experts and reviewed by experts before publication
What Boolean operator do you use if you want to search for two alternative words?
OR
How long can a student borrow a book for?
Three Weeks
Find an article you could have used to support your "American Dream" paper
(answers vary).
True or False:
You can't trust anything on Google
False: While you can trust general searches, you have to be more careful.
If you get zero results for a search, what things should you check?
Spelling, try different keywords, make sure you're in the right database (there are other correct answers too!)
What is a Library Database?
A collection of credible articles that the Library pays for access for
Find a textbook you use for one of your classes that's on reserve in the Library
(answers vary)
How can you tell if an article is scholarly/ peer reviewed? What does it look like?
- generally longer
- less adds
- there are credentials
-often a pdf
-published in a journal
- has predictable parts (abstract, discussion, etc)
- has a really long works cited page.
If you want to write about vampires but keep getting results about vampire bats, how would you rephrase your search terms?
Vampires NOT bats
What are the Visalia Library's Hours?
(look it up if you need to)
Monday - Thursday: 7:30 am - 8:00 pm
Friday: 7:30am - 4:00pm
Saturday: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Go into Statista. Find the number of homeless students in California during the 2019-2020 school year.
246,000k students.
What is lateral reading and why is it an important research skill?
Reading "sideways" or other articles to fact check.