{"id":93,"date":"2016-08-05T14:20:14","date_gmt":"2016-08-05T14:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/chapter\/why-precision-searching\/"},"modified":"2018-08-02T07:19:37","modified_gmt":"2018-08-02T07:19:37","slug":"why-precision-searching","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/chapter\/why-precision-searching\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Precision Searching?"},"content":{"raw":"[caption id=\"attachment_90\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"500\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/navegarvela\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/5-searching.png\" alt=\"a magnifying glass\" width=\"500\" height=\"400\" class=\"size-full wp-image-90\"> Precise searches turn up more appropriate sources.[\/caption]Effective searching takes precision. This section shows you how to perform several steps to make your searching more precise\u2014you\u2019ll turn up more sources that are useful to you and perhaps, sources that may be even crucial to your research question.\n\nYou\u2019ve probably been searching in a more casual way for years and may wonder: Is going to the trouble of precision searching actually worth it?\n\nYes, definitely, for searches that are important to you!&nbsp;You\u2019re in competition with many people who are working to be as skilled as they can be.&nbsp;So you should use of these steps or course assignments and for information tasks you do on the job.&nbsp; With other tasks and searches, precision searching may be less important.\n\n<hr><h3>Search Strategy<\/h3>This information on precision searching is based on how search tools such as Google and specialized databases operate.&nbsp;If you've been more casual in your searching practices, some of these steps may be new to you.\n\nStarting with a research question helps you figure out precisely what you\u2019re looking for. Next, you\u2019ll need the most effective set of search terms \u2013 starting from main concepts and then identifying and alternate between related and terms. Those search terms need to be arranged in the most effective way as search statements, which you actually type into a search box.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_926\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"150\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/navegarvela\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/iterative-150x150.png\" alt=\"Iterative\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-926\"> &nbsp;[\/caption]An important thing to remember is that searching is an iterative process: we try search statements, take a look at what we found and, if the results weren\u2019t good enough, edit our search statements and search again\u2014often multiple times. Most of the time, the first statements we try are not the best, even though Google or another search tool we\u2019re using may give us many results.\n\nIt pays to search further for the sources that will help you the most. Be picky.\n\nHere are the steps for an effective search.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_92\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"608\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/navegarvela\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/s-steps.png\" alt=\"Steps are 1) identifying main concepts, 2) listing related terms, 3) constructing search statements, and 4) searching iteratively to refine your results.\" width=\"608\" height=\"495\" class=\"size-full wp-image-92\"> The steps in a precise search[\/caption]","rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_90\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-90\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/navegarvela\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/5-searching.png\" alt=\"a magnifying glass\" width=\"500\" height=\"400\" class=\"size-full wp-image-90\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/5-searching.png 500w, https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/5-searching-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/5-searching-65x52.png 65w, https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/5-searching-225x180.png 225w, https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/5-searching-350x280.png 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-90\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Precise searches turn up more appropriate sources.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Effective searching takes precision. This section shows you how to perform several steps to make your searching more precise\u2014you\u2019ll turn up more sources that are useful to you and perhaps, sources that may be even crucial to your research question.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ve probably been searching in a more casual way for years and may wonder: Is going to the trouble of precision searching actually worth it?<\/p>\n<p>Yes, definitely, for searches that are important to you!&nbsp;You\u2019re in competition with many people who are working to be as skilled as they can be.&nbsp;So you should use of these steps or course assignments and for information tasks you do on the job.&nbsp; With other tasks and searches, precision searching may be less important.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Search Strategy<\/h3>\n<p>This information on precision searching is based on how search tools such as Google and specialized databases operate.&nbsp;If you&#8217;ve been more casual in your searching practices, some of these steps may be new to you.<\/p>\n<p>Starting with a research question helps you figure out precisely what you\u2019re looking for. Next, you\u2019ll need the most effective set of search terms \u2013 starting from main concepts and then identifying and alternate between related and terms. Those search terms need to be arranged in the most effective way as search statements, which you actually type into a search box.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_926\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-926\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/navegarvela\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/iterative-150x150.png\" alt=\"Iterative\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-926\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-926\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>An important thing to remember is that searching is an iterative process: we try search statements, take a look at what we found and, if the results weren\u2019t good enough, edit our search statements and search again\u2014often multiple times. Most of the time, the first statements we try are not the best, even though Google or another search tool we\u2019re using may give us many results.<\/p>\n<p>It pays to search further for the sources that will help you the most. Be picky.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the steps for an effective search.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_92\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-92\" style=\"width: 608px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/navegarvela\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/s-steps.png\" alt=\"Steps are 1) identifying main concepts, 2) listing related terms, 3) constructing search statements, and 4) searching iteratively to refine your results.\" width=\"608\" height=\"495\" class=\"size-full wp-image-92\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/s-steps.png 608w, https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/s-steps-300x244.png 300w, https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/s-steps-65x53.png 65w, https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/s-steps-225x183.png 225w, https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2016\/08\/s-steps-350x285.png 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-92\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The steps in a precise search<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"menu_order":1,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-93","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":89,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/93","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/93\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94,"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/93\/revisions\/94"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/89"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/93\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=93"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=93"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/choosingsources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=93"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}