Assignment 3: Seven Critical Steps to Getting Better Search Results

Due date: Sunday, September 19, at 11:59 PM

In Assignment 2 you explored some of Feinberg Library’s resources as a way to widen your information landscape. This assignment continues on from that, and asks you to now focus on one particular resource. I want you to get more familiar with the main “Find It at Feinberg!” search box on the library home page, and get a sense of the wide variety of things you can do with it.

In particular, after you begin a search from the library home page, I want you to experiment with refining your search using the techniques given in Seven Critical Steps to Getting Better Search Results.

You may use either your topic from Assignment 2 or choose a new topic, depending on your preference.

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To get credit you must do the following:

1. Use your Plattsburgh account to create a new Google Doc.

2. Title your Google Doc in the following way: [Your Last Name] - Assignment 3 - LIB190 WA1. Since my last name is Beatty, my Google Doc would be titled Beatty - Assignment 3 - LIB190 WA1.

3. Begin by listing an initial topic. This, again, may be your topic from last week or a new one. Then refine your topic further, which may involve making it narrower or broader. For help on selecting and refining topics, see these two guides from MIT Libraries:

   • Selecting a Research Topic: Overview
   • Selecting a Research Topic: Refine your topic

4. Now experiment with your search results by going one-by-one through the Seven Critical Steps to Getting Better Search Results.

   • Write down each of the Seven Critical Steps in your Google Doc as you go.
   • For Critical Step 1, search your keywords in the Find It at Feinberg! box on the library home page.
   • For Critical Steps 2-7, use the more complex advanced search listed above your search results.
   • Tell me how you used each step to refine your search, and how well it worked. You can use text only or add screenshots as you think best. You should tell me how many results your search found and how relevant you think the search results are to what you’re searching for. Just like with Assignment 2, I need to be able to follow your process.
   • The Seven Critical Steps can be added together, but do not have to be. After finishing Critical Step 2, for example, you have the option of either continuing with Critical Step 3 beginning with your Critical Step 2 results or going back to an earlier search. Dead ends are a normal part of the research process, not a reason to get discouraged!
   • For Critical Step 6, use the dropdown menus on the right side of the search results screen. Try “Subject,” “Resource Type,” and “Creation Date” in particular.
   • For Critical Step 7, change the dropdown next to your search terms from “Any field” to “Subject.”
   • To receive a Satisfactory grade you must work through all seven Critical Steps.

5. End with a brief reflection on your process. Which of the Seven Critical Steps worked best for your topic? Did any steps work well in combination? What might you do next if you wanted to continue researching this topic?

6. Share your document with me (Joshua Beatty, userid jbeat003) using the Share button at the top right of your Google doc. Make me a commenter rather than just a viewer so I can give you feedback right in the Google Doc.