Revised Searches: ERIC, World Cat, LibraryLiterature, and BIP

I need to revise my searches in ERIC, World Cat, LibraryLiterature, and BIP to incorporate some new techniques. My topic has narrowed for the paper on Information Seeking Behavior, we now have a working thesis:

Thesis - theoretical models and demographic data reveal that human information seeking habits remain generally the same regardless of the interface in which information is sought

The focus of the paper is leaning towards exploring established theories of information seeking behavior and the effects of technology on information seeking behavior. I’m going to search for information about the effects of technology.

Query: How has technology changed the way people look for information?

Facets:             Information seeking behavior (searching, googling, search strategies & techniques)

            Technology (internet, kindles, Google, electronic databases…)

I think I’ll start with trying to find concepts similar to “information seeking behavior” and technology in the index or thesaurus and work from there. I am also going to limit all searches to full-text availability and/or TWU holdings because I don’t have time to wait for ILL requests.

From ERIC Subjects Search:

Information seeking behavior terms: Information Seeking, Information Skills, Problem Solving, Search Strategies

Technology terms: Online Searching, Search Engines, Computer Literacy, Databases, Information Systems, Information sources

ERIC
Search #	1	2	3	4	5	6
Index (Field searched)	Subject	Subject	Subject	Subject	Subject	Subject
Search Terms	(Information Seeking OR Information Skills OR Problem Solving OR Search Strategies) and (Online Searching OR Search Engines OR Computer Literacy OR Databases OR Information Systems OR Information sources)	("Information Seeking" OR "Information Skills" OR "Problem Solving" OR "Search Strategies") and ("Online Searching" OR "Search Engines" OR "Computer Literacy" OR Databases OR "Information Systems" OR "Information sources")	("Information Seeking" OR "Information Skills" OR "Problem Solving" OR "Search Strategies") and ("Electronic Libraries")	("Information Seeking" OR "Information Skills" OR "Problem Solving" OR "Search Strategies") and ("Electronic Libraries")	("Information Seeking" OR "Information Skills" OR "Problem Solving" OR "Search Strategies") and (Internet)	("Information Seeking" OR "Information Skills" OR "Problem Solving" OR "Search Strategies") and (Internet)
Limits/ Rankings	English / Relevance / TWU Subscription	English / Relevance / TWU Subscription	English / Relevance / TWU Subscription	English / Relevance / Full-Text	English / Relevance / TWU Subscription	English / Relevance / Full-Text
# Hits	1452	1142	77	22	501	158
Notes:	A quick look at the first hit shows that I need to make my subject search phrases explicit. I'll try quotes.	Eric changed quotes to w (Information w Seeking), still too broad. Articles focus on the technology, not how the user uses it… Try "electronic libraries" (From ERIC thesaurus)	Much better. #7 looks very promising.	Same as Search #3, but full-text. Okay, a little too library focused rather than user focused. Try "Internet".		Same as Search #5, but full-text. # 8 looks good.

Ashley, T., Colborn, N. W., Crawford, G., Freund, L. S., Heise, J., Hocker, S. E., Hoover, D., Jacobs, S. J., Kelsey, S., Lacks, B., Lyon, S., McDonald, B., McHugh, W., Popp, M. P., Swanson, S., & Wright, A. R. M. (2001). Users' Information-Seeking Behavior. What Are They Really Doing? A Bibliography. User Access to Services Committee, RUSA Machine-Assisted Reference Section (MARS). Reference & User Services Quarterly. 40(3), 240-50.

Luconi, F., Tabatabai, D. (1999). Searching the web: Expert-novice differences in a problem solving context. Document retrieved from ERIC database.

From WorldCat Subject Search:

Library Resources: Here are entered general works describing the resources and collections available in libraries for research.

Searching Behavior

Database Searching

WorldCat
Search #	1	2	3	4
Index (Field searched)	Subject	Subject	Subject Phrase	Subject
Search Terms	("Library Resources") AND ("Searching Behavior")	("Library Resources") AND ("Searching Behavior")	Searching behavior	"information behavior"
Limits/ Rankings	English / TWU / Relevance	English / Relevance	English / TWU / Relevance	English / TWU / Relevance
# Hits	0	0	2	16
Notes:	Remove TWU	Remove "Library resources"	1 title, already in our bibliography.	Looked up another known book, took subject heading from there. Best results.

Fisher, K. E., Erdelez, S., & McKechnie, L. (2005). Theories of information behavior. ASIST monograph series. Medford, N.J.: Published for the American Society for Information Science and Technology by Information Today.

Liu, Z. (2008). Paper to digital: Documents in the information age. Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited.

LibraryLit:

Information Needs: Used for: Computer-user interface; Information-seeking behavior; User interface; User needs

Library Literature
Search #	1	2	3
Index (Field searched)	Subject(s)	Subject(s)	Subject(s) and Keyword
Search Terms	"Information Needs"	(Use studies / Internet)	(Use studies / Internet) SU AND (Internet) KW
Limits/ Rankings	Relevance / Full-Text	Relevance / Full-Text	Relevance / Full-Text
# Hits	588	298	9
Notes:	Too many irrelevant. Look for other subjects.	Closer to the mark. Need to narrow.	Good results.

Griffiths, J., & Brophy, P. (2005). Student Searching Behavior and the Web: Use of Academic Resources and Google. Library Trends, 53(4), 539-54. Retrieved October 13, 2009, from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.

Books In Print:

Books in Print
Search #	1	2	3	4	4
Index (Field searched)	Keyword	Keyword	Keyword	Keyword	Keyword in Title & Keyword
Search Terms	(information WITH seeking) and (internet)	(information WITH seeking) and (internet) andnot (instruction)	((information WITH seeking) and (internet)) andnot (instruction) andnot (guide*)	(information AND seeking) andnot (instruction) andnot (guide*)	Information KWIT and seeking KWIT and internet KW
Limits/ Rankings	English / relevance	English / relevance / In-Print / book / adult / college	English / relevance / In-Print / book / adult / college	English / relevance / In-Print / book / adult / college	English / relevance / In-Print
# Hits	278	177	0	0	5
Notes:	Irrelevant. How-to books.	Still irrelevant	Argh!	One last try and then I give up.	Finally! One decent hit.

Choo, C. W., Detlor, B., Turnbull, D. (2000). Web work: Information and seeking knowledge work on the world wide web. Springer.