When searching for literature, you should not only examine the sources you have used critically, but you must also evaluate the search results critically.
To perform a literature search which gives many good, up-to-date and relevant matches in the subject can be time consuming. If the search gives none or very few matches in a subject where you might assume that much material has been published it can be useful to evaluate the search(es) you have done.
If you have not found the information you had expected to find you should ask yourself the following questions: Why was there so few search results? Why did I not find the information I need? Perhaps you need to rephrase your search query so that it covers your information need better.
You should also ask yourself if you have used correct search terms in your search query. Have you tried all the subject words that cover your information need? Most of the reference databases have very detailed thesauri of the subject words that are relevant for that database. Here you will find tips about what search words are best to use in that database. By using the recommended terms you will get more relevant search results.
Have you used synonyms for your terms? What other words/terms have similar meaning? Your course literature in the subject may be another good source for finding good search terms. If you can not find good synonyms for your search terms another good way is thinking in hierarchies. What wider or more specific terms could you use?
Is the database you are searching the one that best covers your subject area? Or are there several databases that are also relevant for your field?
Have you set aside enough time for your search? Searching for literature for a paper/assignment is often quite time consuming. Could it be that you have not had enough time to carry out a carefully prepared and well thought-out search?
And, last but not least – did you check the spelling? Many searches fail because of misspellings!
Anne-Marie Pettersson
2005-06-20
