This is a simple activity intended to warm up students, break the ice, and introduce the concept of keyword searching. Ask students to come up with a single word search that gives zero results. It’s harder than it sounds. It may be too elementary for graduate students or upperclassmen; use your judgement about students’ abilities and familiarity with searching. This activity can be a great segue in to a lesson on keyword development, Boolean operators, popular terminology vs. technical jargon, and the differences between different kinds of databases.
Assignments
Posted on August 20, 2019
Author: Natalie Mahan
Discipline: Multidisciplinary
Information Literacy Concepts: Finds Information (ACRL 2, SCONUL 3&4, ANZIL 2&4, ANCIL 5), Searching as Strategic Exploration (Frame 6)
Posted on April 18, 2017
Author: Lucinda Rush
An activity to teach students how to construct database searches using Boolean operators.
Discipline: Multidisciplinary
Information Literacy Concepts: Finds Information (ACRL 2, SCONUL 3&4, ANZIL 2&4, ANCIL 5), Searching as Strategic Exploration (Frame 6)
Posted on August 25, 2016
Author: Carolyn Caffrey
This group activity can be used in a variety of disciplines and contexts. Pass the Problem aims to have students provide feedback to other students on database and keyword selection. By having students critique each other it works to build critical self-reflection during the research process (it's also pretty fun!).
Discipline: Art, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Classics, Communication Studies, Dance, Education, English, Environmental Studies, Ethnic Studies, Film and TV, Health, History, Multidisciplinary, Music, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Social Work, Sociology, Theater Arts, Theology, Urban Studies, Women's Studies
Information Literacy Concepts: Defines Information Need (ACRL 1, SCONUL 1&2, ANZIL 1), Research as Inquiry (Frame 4), Searching as Strategic Exploration (Frame 6)
Adaptations: 13
Posted on November 5, 2015
Author: Carolyn Caffrey
The following activity is meant to assist learning the concepts of strategic search. It introduces the idea that sources contribute different perspectives to an argument and that scholarship is a conversation. It can be used for any discipline but is particularly well suited to introductory writing courses.
Discipline: Multidisciplinary, Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing
Information Literacy Concepts: Defines Information Need (ACRL 1, SCONUL 1&2, ANZIL 1), Finds Information (ACRL 2, SCONUL 3&4, ANZIL 2&4, ANCIL 5), Ethics (ACRL 5, SCONUL 6, ANZIL 6, ANCIL 7), Searching as Strategic Exploration (Frame 6)
Adaptations: 4