Using the Library Effectively & Online Search Techniques ........................

4th December 2012

(simmons.libguides, 2012)

What is a library?

A library is a  building or room containing collections of books, periodicals, and sometimes films and recorded music for use or borrowing by the public or the members of an institution. (oxforddictionaries, 2012).

What are the types of Libraries? (ala, 2012)

As shown by the "American Library Association" website, the major types of libraries are:

• Academic Libraries - serve colleges and universities, their students, staff and faculty. Many academic librarians become specialists in an area of knowledge and can have faculty status.
• Public Libraries - serve communities of all sizes and types. Public libraries often have departments that focus on areas of service, such as youth, teens and adults.
  
  

  • School Libraries - is a part of a school system, and serve students between Kindergarten and grade 12. Many are called media centers, and librarians are often required to have a second degree in education or a certificate in school media. 

  
  

  •  Special Libraries - offer unique opportunities to work in a specialized environment of interest, such as corporations, hospitals, the military, museums, private businesses, and the government. Special libraries can serve particular populations, such as the blind and physically handicapped, while others are dedicated to special collections, such as the Library of Congress or a presidential library. 

  
   

Online search techniques 

What is a "Search Engine" ?

This is a computer program that searches documents for specified keywords and returns a list of the documents where the keywords were found (onecaribbean, 2012). Search Engines will always return good results depending on the use of proper syntax and it is good for well defined topics to search; looking for specific sites, if the reader wants a large number of websites returned for topic and to retrieve particular types of documents (onecaribbean, 2012).

Eg. PDF Files

(onecaribbean, 2012)

Search Techniques

1. Keyword Searching & Subject Searching - Key word  Search technique is used with Operators such as :
   
   • NOT - Operator will show the value if its true if its operand is False. And if the Operand is true, the value will return True
     
     Eg: Beverages NOT Alcohol ( Will not show any alcoholic items)
     
     
   • OR - Use to combine words with similar meanings
     
     
   • AND - Will record all the terms found.  

              2. Nesting Operator - Used to group synonymous spelling variations or other alternate terms.

             3. Truncation & Wildcards -  Searches on the root of the word adding different word endings or  plurals (onecaribbean, 2012). 

            4. Wildcards - is often used with "?". Wildcards are used to pick up words that have different spellings.
Eg: Organi ? ation - Can return Organization (UK) or Organisation (USA)

Reference

1. Library - Definition [Online]. Available on: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/library (Viewed  on: 13th December 2012)

     2. Types of Libraries[Online]. Available on: http://www.ala.org/educationcareers/careers   /librarycareerssite/typesoflibraries (Viewed on: 14th December 2012)

     3. Internet Search Techniques[Online]. Available on : http://www.onecaribbean.org/content/files/internetsearchpresentation.pdf  (Viewed on: 14th December 2012)

     4. Not Operator [Online]. Available on: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/N/NOT_operator.html (Viewed on: 14th December 2012)

   
Images list

1. http://simmons.libguides.com/content.php?pid=270267&sid=2817688