Developing a Search Strategy

Well when it comes to university study references are the difference between a pass and a HD on a report. References can sometimes take hours to find by using a simple search engine like Google or Yahoo.

Thankfully for the Education industry there are several online databases. These are; A+ Education, ProQuest, Google Scholar, OneSearch.

Things that need to be done before searching an online Database:

1. Identify the keywords / concepts in your research topic.
2. Identify Synonyms - For example; rural, remote, outback or primary, elementary and junior.
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
3. Identify Traunication - Phase searching opportunities.
4. Formulate and execute your search srategy. For example the following operators in your query; and, or, not.
   
   And - Narrowing a search.
   Or - Broaden a search.
   Not - Exclude a term.
   
5. Evaluate your results - Evalutate the information that you find for relevance.
6. Apply limits to your search results. For instance within a specific location or time frame.

Databases are slightly different in the way to a commerical search engine. Databases are more advanced and require information input to find the correct / relevant information.

Here are some helpful database links for education:

• A+ Education - An indexing and full text database that provides Internet access to the scanned images of journal articles from published material on all aspects of education. Source documents include journal articles, monographs, research reports, theses, conference papers, legislation, parliamentary debates, newspaper articles, tests and web. Articles and reports by Australian authors or about Australian education published in overseas sources are also included. Subject coverage includes curriculum, educational research, information science, librarianship, management, policy administration, psychology, sociology, teaching and training.
• ERIC - A world wide site for education journals and documents.
• ProQuest - Resources relevant to education and ED1401.