BHCC Library
& Learning Commons  

Reference area silent study area Reference area

 

Using Electronic Information Sources Efficiently and Effectively

This session...

PART I -- Using subscription databases provided by BHCC

Where do you begin when you have 15 databases and 94 individual sources? You'll get sidetracked less often and in fewer directions if you establish the parameters of your information needs first.

Begin by asking some basic questions related to your immediate information needs.

  1. What is the goal of your search session? What do you need to produce in tangible terms? ( magazine article, book, facts and statistics, etc)
  2. What field of study or academic discipline most closely relates to your subject? (medicine, social sciences, law, etc)
  3. Does date of publication matter? (current, within the past year or five years, etc.)
  4. Is length of material an issue? (abstract entries or summaries representing full length works, single page article, lengthy journal articles with extensive bibliographies, etc.)
  5. Which resources on the BHCC Library subscription services list appear to be related to the search at hand? (EBSCO, FirstSearch, ProQuest Direct, Electric Library, etc.) Many of the subscription services offer a variety of databases ranging from the general to the highly specialized. Search methods and techniques may vary depending on the information provider and settling on a few favorite databases can narrow and distort a search before it begins.

Move from the general to the specific.

  1. Consider provider descriptions of resources as a starting point. Set aside a few minutes before you begin your search activities to look at the annotations offered to introduce the individual databases at your disposal.
  2. Use the context relevant help, search tips and tutorials offered by the selected database.
  3. Take a few minutes to identify the search tool being used, the search strategy you intend to employ and the search method/technique most suited to your task.

This is meant to be support material information for a hands-on session for intermediate WWW users. You might also be interested in the material for Part II of the related workshop or return to the Web support document for this workshop