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Introduction to Power Searching Session Keene 2014

Notes and Self-Directed Learning Guide for the Keene 2014 Session

Steps to Power Searching

  1. State your topic
  2. Identify key concepts
  3. Sketch a Venn Diagram of your search plan
  4. Use the Turn-Around Chart to consider synonyms
  5. Select the best resources in which you are likely to find the topic.
  6. Consider the fields, controlled vocabulary and syntax of the database.
  7. Run a trial search
  8. Reflect on what you discover.
  9. Refine your topic [narrow, exclude, expand] accordingly
  10. Critically analyze what you find.   Have you considered your own bias in the search and excluded other thoughts and opinions?
  11. Execute the search, combining field based sets where-ever possible.
  12. Create alerts or RSS feeds so you will be kept up to date on the topic