Safari
Section 3: Planning a search
The Safari website has now been updated to provide links to more up-to-date
information and activities on digital and information literacy.
This document contains the original content of the website. Please note that this is
several years old and only provided here as a reference. Some of the material may
be out-of-date.
This document will not be updated. At the time of publication, all links were checked
and working.
For more up-to-date material, please refer to the OU Library Being digital website.
Being digital is a collection of short, easy to follow activities. They cover the skills
we all need to be effective online, whether it’s searching efficiently, critically
evaluating information, communicating and sharing online, or selecting the right
online tool for your needs.
Being digital can help you develop essential skills for study, work and lifelong
learning.
Safari: Section 3: Planning a search
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Contents
Safari .......................................................................................................................... 1
Section 3: Planning a search ...................................................................................... 1
Topic 1: Introduction ............................................................................................... 4
Topic 2: Describing information .............................................................................. 5
Activity: Identifying and describing things ............................................................ 5
Activity: Looking at item records.......................................................................... 7
Topic 3: Databases ............................................................................................... 10
What is a database? ......................................................................................... 10
What do they contain? ...................................................................................... 10
Why use them? ................................................................................................. 11
Activity: Looking at data bases .......................................................................... 11
Topic 4: Library catalogues ................................................................................... 12
Library catalogues – what do they contain? ...................................................... 13
Why would you use a library catalogue? ........................................................... 14
Topic 5: World Wide Web ..................................................................................... 15
What do you think about the web? .................................................................... 15
Reflection .......................................................................................................... 16
What is the World Wide Web? .......................................................................... 16
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Activity: What does the Web contain? ............................................................... 17
Why use the web?............................................................................................. 17
The more the better?......................................................................................... 18
Topic 6: Which tools to use ................................................................................... 19
Activity: Which tool would you use? .................................................................. 19
Topic 7: Planning a search ................................................................................... 23
Scenario ............................................................................................................ 23
Checklist for planning your search .................................................................... 27
Topic 8: Choosing resources ................................................................................ 28
Which sources are you going to try?..................................................................... 29
Discussion ......................................................................................................... 31
Topic 9: Summary................................................................................................. 33
Activity: Applying what you’ve learnt ................................................................. 33
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Topic 1: Introduction
This section should help you to:

talk about and describe different kinds of information;

understand and use the terms ‘fields’ and ‘records’;

understand what a library catalogue is and why you might use one;

understand what a database is and why you might use one;

understand what the World Wide Web is and why you might use it;

turn a search question into a search strategy.
In this section we are going to look at the next stage in the process of finding
information. We will be introducing the sorts of information systems you might use.
Some of these are organised, like library catalogues and databases, whilst others,
such as the World Wide Web, are not. We will be showing you how to move from
knowing broadly what information you are looking for, to knowing where you are
likely to find it, and to planning how you will go about retrieving it.
NB – If you plan to complete all the activities in this section you will need to allow
between one and two hours to finish everything. Some activities will require you to
use paper and pen to make notes or record your thoughts.
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Topic 2: Describing information
Library catalogues and databases are two systems that are widely used to store
information.
The basic principle behind library catalogues and databases is that someone has
collected resources or pieces of information together, identified and described
them and then organised them in a systematic and consistent way so that you and I
can find them.
Activity: Identifying and describing things
Question
So, how might information sources be identified and described? Imagine that you
wanted to identify and describe the items below in order to organise them for others
to use. What criteria or categories might you use? Make a note of these and then
look on the next page for our suggestions.
Figure 1: Information sources
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Discussion
There are many possible terms that could be used but we thought you might decide
to use:
Author

Artist or composer

Title

Publisher or organisation

Date

Description of what it is, i.e. its format

Description of what it is about – this might be a summary – also called an
abstract – of the content of the item, or it might be a list of the topics covered
(sometimes called descriptors, keywords or topic-words), or it might be both.
Reflection
There are no hard and fast rules about which possible criteria are more useful than
others; the context in which they are to be used will be one deciding factor. You may
like to reflect on whether you would use any of the terms listed below and when and
where they might be meaningful:

Author date of birth

Author nationality

Type of binding/packaging

Colour of resource
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In a database or library catalogue, each of the categories such as ‘author’ or ‘title’ is
called a ‘field’ – there are likely to be others but these are the most important ones to
be aware of when you are carrying out a search for a book or a journal article. The
collection of several fields of information associated with each individual book or
journal article is called a ‘record’. It is these records which make up the contents of
library catalogues and databases.
Activity: Looking at item records
What kind of information would appear in the records for these items? Would the
same information be required for each? When you have decided, go on to the next
page to read the actual records.

Websites

CDs

Journals

Books
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1: An example of a website record

Title: University of Otago: Department of Classics

Website address (URL)

Identification number (in database): 973268311-14697

Subject classmark: 882

Course ID: A209, A861
2: An example of a CD record

Title: Urban Hymns

Artist: The Verve

Date: 29 September 1997

Format: Audio CD

Number of Discs: 1

Label: Hut

Catalogue Number: CDHUT45

Other Editions: Vinyl
3: An example of a journal article record

Authors: D G Streets and M H Glantz

Title: Exploring the concept of climate surprise

Journal Title: Global Environmental Change

Journal Details: Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 97-107

Date: July 2000
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4: An example of a book record

Title: British Trees in colour … Illustrations by Charles Raymond

Author: HART. Cyril Edwin

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Publication date: 1973

ISBN: 0 7181 1157 5

Number of pages: pp. 22

Size: 25 cm

Shelfmark: X.322/1853
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Topic 3: Databases
NB Please note that although you can access most databases by using your OU
computer username and password, for a few databases you may need to obtain
other passwords in order to be able to log on and consult data held there.
What is a database?
Many of you are probably familiar with the idea of a ‘database’. Organisations often
hold information about individuals in a database. For example, your doctor or dentist
will hold your records in a database as will banks, government departments, phone
companies etc. A database is a way of storing, indexing, organising and retrieving
information. You may have created one yourself to keep track of your references – or
your friends' names and addresses. The specialised databases we can use to
search for references to journal articles are called 'bibliographic' databases (because
they contain information in summary form about books and journal articles). They are
electronic indexes to the contents of thousands of journals, and, in some databases,
books. Some are general and cover all subject areas while others are more
specialised and concentrate on a particular discipline.
What do they contain?
This varies – some contain references to articles including abstracts (summaries of
the content of an article). Others will include or link to the full text (the content) of the
article too.
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Why use them?
They can be a very quick means of accessing thousands of references to academic
material, at the click of a mouse. The fact that the information is in the databases
means it has usually gone through some selection or reviewing process by virtue of
its publication in an academic journal – so the information is likely to be of high
quality.
Activity: Looking at databases
To see the opening screens of some databases, click on one of the links below (OU
login required). You don't need to look at them in great detail – this is just to give you
an idea of what they look like.
FirstSearch (click on the ‘List all Databases’ button to choose one of interest to you)
Web of Science
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Topic 4: Library catalogues
What do these items all have in common?
Figure 2: Catalogues
They are organised lists of things. They are all different types of ‘catalogue’ (‘A
complete list of items, typically one in alphabetical or other systematic order’ –
Oxford English Dictionary).
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Library catalogues – what do they contain?
Library catalogues are databases containing information which relates to material
located in a particular library. A library catalogue will hold information about
individual items, for example, where in the library you will find the item, how long you
may borrow it for and if there is more than one copy. It also holds information about
what items are available in which subject areas and where in the library you will find
those items.
Libraries also use online catalogues to record what is available. These are
sometimes referred to by the acronym OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue).
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Why would you use a library catalogue?
Activity
Think about why you might use a library
Reflection
We thought you might want to use the catalogue to:

check the full details of something you want to borrow or buy

find out about material that is kept by the library but is not available, e.g. it is
‘on loan’ to someone else, or it is kept in another location

use your time in the library more efficiently, by finding out what is held in a
library before looking on the shelves
Or, you may have decided that you would not need to use a library catalogue, as you
would prefer to ‘browse’ the shelves in person or do your searching remotely via the
online catalogue.
Using a catalogue can help you to save time, both before visiting a library and while
you are working in a library. If you have access to the Internet you may be able to
check your library catalogue online, before making a visit. In this way you can avoid
making a journey to a library that does not have the material you are looking for. If
you do not have access to the Internet you can ring the library and they may be
willing to check the catalogue for you. They will not be able to check a long list, so
ask about a few key items. You can then decide if a visit is worthwhile. When you are
actually in the library, you might like to use the catalogue to check for further details,
such as where on the shelves items are kept, and whether they are available to
borrow.
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Topic 5: World Wide Web
What do you think about the web?
The Internet is a worldwide network of interconnected computers and all the world's
publicly accessible websites (and other information sources that web browsers can
access) constitute the part of it known as the ‘World Wide Web ’. These generate
strong opinions. Look at these quotations, for example,
‘The Net is a waste of time, and that's exactly what's right about it.’
Quote from William Gibson, science fiction writer.
‘The Internet will do for personal networking what the microcomputer did for
personal computing.’
Source: ‘Internet to grow ten-fold by year 2000 – claim.’
Internet Business News, Jan 1 1995.
‘By the year 2003, every person on the planet could be on the net. At this point
the prime use of the Internet will not be surfing, cruising or riding – it will be
learning.’
Source: ‘All human life is here...’
The Herald (Glasgow), Dec 20, 1994.
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Reflection
Spend five minutes jotting down the first things that spring to mind when you see the
term ‘World Wide Web’. Have you used it for your work, or your studies? If so, how
did you get on? Did it help? How? How did it not?
In our experience, using the World Wide Web can enable us to reach new
information we would not find elsewhere but it can also be frustrating as we do so.
What is the World Wide Web?
The World Wide Web is increasingly part of our everyday lives. It is estimated that
worldwide there are presently something in the region of 1.1 billion Internet users,
which is nearly 20% of the world's population. ‘World Wide Web’ and ‘Internet’ are
terms you might hear used interchangeably, but they actually refer to two different
things. The Internet is the interconnection of computer networks across the world. If
you've got an e-mail address, you're using the Internet when you send a message –
so the term Internet is more about structure, and how such communication happens.
The web is all of the publicly accessible websites in the world, in addition to any
other information sources that web browsers can access e.g. newsgroups.
Accessing the web is just one way of using the Internet. The web is another useful
source of information but it is quite unlike library catalogues and databases in that it
isn't so neatly organised. On the web you can look at information which can be in the
form of text, images, video, or audio. Websites are linked together using a system
called hypertext which allows you to move from site to site. You are using something
called a browser, probably Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer, to access this
information.
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Activity: What does the Web contain?
The Web contains all sorts of things. Try clicking on the links below to access the live
versions of four very different web pages. Think about the kinds of information you
can find on these pages, and the use you might get from them.
BBC News site
Argos website
British Library
Uluru & Surrounds website
Why use the web?
We have already seen that the web is a source of many different sorts of information.
The information itself varies greatly in quality and usefulness. For academic work
you will find that increasingly library catalogues are accessible online. There are
many online journals too, and some publishers now offer online access to journals
previously only available in print format. Increasingly too, the web is used as a
delivery medium for official information like government publications and public
records. Timetables and professional directories may also be useful as you develop
study and research plans.
You can also access bookshops via the web and buy books and other resources
online. Newspapers and magazines online may provide less reliable but nonetheless
useful information.
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The more the better?
New sources of information are emerging as users start to exploit the capabilities of
the web. In particular there are blogs (personal online 'web-logs'), like online public
diaries. You may find useful information on these but you need always to check that
it is reliable and accurate and available for re-use. Your module may also require you
to use a blog as a means of sharing your reflections on learning with other students
as your module progresses.
Whatever you use it for, you need to remember that the web is a vast and useful
resource but the information you can find there is only as good as the providers
make it. Sometimes there will be questions about how accurate or how balanced that
information is. You may need to do some further investigations before using the
material for your studies.
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Topic 6: Which tools to use
We have identified some of the tools you might find useful when you are looking for
information – the World Wide Web, library catalogues and databases. Each
approach is useful in different circumstances – you may use just one of them, or all
three, depending on what you want the information for.
Activity: Which tool would you use?
Imagine you are writing a short assignment, due in next week, on GM food and you
want to find a quote from someone else to back up one of your points.
Which of these tools might you use?

World Wide Web

Library catalogue

Database
If, however, you were writing a long assignment (say 5000 words) on GM food, your
use of the tools might be quite different.

Web

Library catalogue

Database
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Discussion: The tools we would use
If you were writing a short assignment, you might use the tools in the following
ways.

Websites

You might try looking on the web for what has happened in the last week in
the news about GM food using an online newspaper or magazine.

Library catalogue

You might try using a library catalogue to look for a book on GM food – you
might be able to pop in and have a quick look at it.

Database
You would probably only use databases to look for references to journal articles if
you had time to do it.
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If you were writing an assignment, you might use the tools in the following ways.

Websites

You might try looking on the web for what has happened in the last week or
last few months in the news about GM food using an online newspaper on the
web.

You might try looking for what a particular organisation thinks about GM food
using the web.

You might try looking at what political parties have to say about GM food
using the web.

Library catalogue

You might try using a library catalogue to look for more than one item on GM
food. There may be some recently published books or conference papers in
the library.

Database

You might try using a database of journal articles to look for what research
there has been over the last few years into GM food.
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Reflection
Look carefully at the discussion on the previous page. Why would different items be
useful for different lengths of assignment? What is different about the information
you might collect for the long assignment?
So, different tools will be useful to you in different ways depending on what you are
looking for. Before you start using any of these tools, you need to have a good idea
of what you are looking for. The next Topic will show you how to translate your broad
search questions into specific search strategies.
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Topic 7: Planning a search
Scenario
Early on in her project, Mary (studying on a Post-Graduate Science course) came up
with a series of questions which had helped her to identify exactly what it was about
GM food she was looking for. One of the questions she had ended up with was: ‘Is
there research evidence on any health effects of eating GM foods?’
But how was she going to get from knowing what she was looking for, to getting the
information itself? She couldn't go into a bookshop or library, armed just with her
question, and expect to find a book with all the answers in. What she needed to do
was to break her question down, to pinpoint the range of ideas it included. This
would then enable her to look for specific material. She needed to translate the
questions into a ‘search strategy’.
Translating your question into a search strategy or statement is an important first
step in tracking down the information you need. Developing a search strategy starts
by thinking about the kinds of words related to your topic that you might expect to
find in books or in newspaper articles. Carefully considered keywords and/or a good
search statement can be applied to whichever sources you might decide to use.
They will be equally effective with such resources as specific computer databases,
library catalogues or online journals etc.
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Our student used the framework given below to help her when planning her
searches. She chose to write it down as it helped her to get a concrete picture of
what she was looking for, and meant she didn't miss anything out. The framework is
given in the list below, followed by Mary's comments relating specifically to her
search about GM foods.

Ask yourself, what do I need to know?
Mary's comments
“I want to know whether there is any information on the health effects of
eating GM foods.”

Break the topic down into its broad areas or concepts. You will usually find
that your question breaks down into a couple of ideas or concepts.
Mary's comments
“Genetically modified foods – eating – health”

Is there a very specific word or phrase that you are looking for? If there is a
commonly used and recognised term for your topic, use it, as most authors
will also have used it, and it will make your search more specific.
Mary's comments
"Genetically modified food" is already quite a specific term – I can't think of
any other way it might be expressed.
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Think of some alternative words for the words you have chosen – for instance,
‘young people’ and ‘adolescents’ mean roughly the same thing. So that you don't
miss anything, remember:

plurals

child, children

abbreviations

UK, United Kingdom

variations in spelling

colour, color, specialised, specialized

Variations in terminology used in different cultures and countries – for
instance, ‘children with emotional and behavioural problems’ (UK) are referred
to as ‘maladjusted children’ in the US.
This will help to ensure that you find things that an author might have referred to
using different terms. But don't worry if you can't always find any sensible substitutes
for the words you have chosen – there might not be any.
Mary's comments
“Genetically modified food or foods, GM food or foods. Eating, consumption,
consuming. Health effects, side effects, consequences, harm, risk”

Are any of the words vague or ambiguous? If they are, cut them out – it is
important to be precise so that you only find what is relevant.
Mary's comments
“I'll take out the health effects bit – the consumption and side effects words
seem to sum up better what I mean.”
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
Next try writing out your request in full.
Mary's comments:
“I want to find out about the consequences, harm, risk or side effects – of
eating, consuming or the consumption of – GM or genetically modified food or
foods.”
Further questions are part of the framework as follows:

Are there any geographical or date limitations you need to build in to your
search? (E.g. are you looking for the worldwide or European perspective? Are
you interested in historical or very current material?)

Does your statement make sense?

Are all the words that relate to each other in the right place?

If they are, you are ready to choose your sources and start searching.
On the next page, you will find a checklist that you can use to help you to plan your
searches.
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Checklist for planning your search
1. Ask yourself, what do I need to know?
2. Break the topic down into its broad areas or concepts. You will usually find
that your question breaks down into a couple of ideas or concepts.
3. Is there a very specific word or phrase that you are looking for?
4. If there is a commonly used and recognised term for your topic, use it, as
most authors will also have used it, and it will make your search more specific.
5. Think of some alternative words for the words you have chosen – for instance,
‘young people’ and ‘adolescents’ mean roughly the same thing. So that you
don't miss anything, remember:

Plurals – child, children

Abbreviations – UK, United Kingdom

Variations in spelling – colour, color, specialised, specialized

Variations in terminology used in different cultures and countries – for
instance, ‘children with emotional and behavioural problems’ (UK) are
referred to as ‘maladjusted children’ in the US.
6. This will help to ensure that you find things that an author might have referred
to using different terms. But don't worry if you can't always find any sensible
substitutes for the words you have chosen – there might not be any.
7. Are any of the words vague or ambiguous? If they are, cut them out – it is
important to be precise so that you only find what is relevant.
8. Next try writing out your request in full.
9. Are there any geographical or date limitations you need to build in to your
search? (E.g. are you looking for the worldwide or European perspective? Are
you interested in historical or very current material?) Does your statement
make sense?
10. Are all the words that relate to each other in the right place? If they are, you
are ready to choose your sources and start searching.
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Topic 8: Choosing resources
The next step will be to match your search statement against relevant, appropriate
resources in your subject area. If your search statement was:
I want to find out about the consequences, harm, risk or side effects – of eating,
consuming or the consumption of – GM or genetically modified food or foods.
You might be looking for:

ideas and opinions – expert opinion, opinions of pressure groups, public
opinion, opinion of companies involved in trials, opinion of governments and
other organisations;

research results – medical experiments, scientific information;

history – where the debate began and why.
You will need to have a clear idea of what it is about your topic that you want to
know. Then you should be able to look closely at the individual resources, such as
databases, on offer in your subject area, to see what information they contain. It is
very likely that you will have to apply your search statement to different sources to
get the range of information you need. Keeping the particular aspects of your topic in
mind, you should then try to see how the resources measure up against your topic
and decide which ones are going to provide you with the information you are looking
for.
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Which sources are you going to try?
We have decided to look for:

ideas and opinions

research results

history/background
related to our search statement:
“I want to find out about the consequences, harm, risk or side effects –
of eating, consuming or the consumption of – GM or genetically
modified food or foods.”
What are the resources available to us and how might they help? Start by thinking
about sources you have already learned about and how they might help. If it is
helpful to you, make some notes about these. Once you have thought for a while go
to the next page and consider the options that we have found.
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Look at the descriptions of the sources below, all of which are available on Library
web pages, and think about how they ‘measure up’ to the topic. Which do you think
might be the most useful information sources to try? Make some notes about the
reasons for your opinions on these sources.
Click on each information source to find out more about it. Information will open in a
new window, which you will need to close to return to this screen. You may need an
OU login to access these.
1. Arts and Humanities Citation Index. Title, keyword & citation searching of
1,160 journals, 1975 onwards
2. Social Sciences Citation Index. Provides access to the bibliographic and
citation information of over 1,950 of the world's leading social sciences
journals, 1956 to the present
3. Science citation index expanded. Title, keyword and citation searching of
6,650 journals in science and technology. From 1899 onwards
4. Nexis UK. The full text of newspapers and other news sources worldwide;
also contains company data and business directory information
5. Academic Search Complete (EBSCO). Full text of nearly 6,000 journals,
including more than 5,000 peer-reviewed journals
6. MedlinePlus
7. GeoRef. Access to the earth sciences literature of the world. Contains
references to geoscience journal articles, books, maps, conference papers,
reports and theses, 1785 onwards
8. Government web pages
9. My local library catalogue
When you have made a note of your decision about which to use, look at the next
page to see what we thought.
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Discussion

Arts and humanities citation index Title, keyword & citation searching of 1,160
journals, 1975 onwards.
No – this is a database of articles relating to Arts and humanities - our topic
doesn't fall into this area.

Social Sciences Citation Index. Provides access to the bibliographic and
citation information of over 1,950 of the world's leading social sciences
journals, 1956 to the present.
No – this database relates to social sciences – our topic doesn't fall into this
area.

Science citation index expanded. Title, keyword and citation searching of
6,650 journals in science and technology. From 1899 onwards.
Yes, definitely. It's a science database. This should provide us with some
articles on research results.

Nexis UK. The full text of newspapers and other news sources worldwide;
also contains company data and business directory information.
Yes, definitely. It's a database of news. This should provide us with ideas and
opinions that have appeared in the media.

Academic Search Complete (EBSCO). Full text of nearly 6,000 journals,
including more than 5,000 peer-reviewed journals.
Yes, probably, as it covers some science material. However, as it indexes
nearly 6,000 titles across a number of disciplines, we will probably have to
use another source too.
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
MedlinePlus.
Yes, definitely. This should provide us with some medical evidence.

GeoRef. Access to the earth sciences literature of the world. Contains
references to geoscience journal articles, books, maps, conference papers,
reports and theses, 1785 onwards.
No – This database covers science, but not the branch of science we are
looking for.

Government web pages.
Yes, definitely. This might provide us with some useful background
information on government policy, plus an insight into government opinion.

My local library catalogue.
Yes, definitely. There may be some useful books about the origins of the GM
foods debate, plus they may have some of the journal articles.
Deciding where to look for information can be the most complicated part of the
searching process because there are so many resources on offer – in this example,
we have already come up with 6 possible resources which might help us with our
enquiry.
You will need to weigh up one resource against another, using its description, if there
is one, and prioritise, particularly if you are working to a deadline. You may find that
a resource that you have chosen might not give you the results that you were
expecting. Look at the results you find – might you be able to alter your search
statement (take a word out or put a new one in) to get more accurate results?
Try this before moving on to a different resource.
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Topic 9: Summary
In this section we have introduced databases, one of the main ‘tools of the trade’,
and have thought about what they contain and why we should use them. We have
also highlighted the World Wide Web as an information source. We explained how to
translate a search question into a search strategy, in preparation for using the tools.
Then we looked at trying to match a search statement with appropriate resources.
Activity: Applying what you’ve learnt
Jot down what you think are two of the most useful things you have learnt in this
section. How are you going to apply these to your own work or study?
Finally, we hope that this section has helped you to start thinking about planning
your searches in a systematic way, from deciding what it is that you are looking for,
to choosing the best sources to use. These are really useful skills to master, as they
can be applied to almost every situation in which you may need to search for
information.
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