The document introduces simple search techniques for finding information on the internet, emphasizing the importance of developing information literacy skills like identifying appropriate search terms, evaluating results for quality and relevance, and understanding different information sources and search tools. It provides tips for effective searching using keywords, Boolean operators, and search engines like Google, as well as evaluating results and developing strategies for gathering the right information.

1. Introducing simple search
Nigel Sturt
Librarian, HMS Sultan

2. My CV
• Started selling books in my school library in
1978
• Graduated with a library degree in 1990
• Chartered professionally in 2001
• Worked in public, museum, commercial &
education libraries.
• I enjoy my career I bought the tshirt!

3. The prologue
• Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject
ourselves, or we know where we can find
information on it.
Samuel Johnson
• Knowledge is power
Sir Francis Bacon
© http://www.quotationspage.com – accessed 08/11/2012

4. The prologue
• Digital Britain. Final report, June 2009.
– Digital information in context
• It took James Cook 2yrs & 320 days to return from his
Australian voyage started in 1768 to describe his adventures
• In 2009 20 hours of video content was added to Youtube per
minute & millions of searches were made in Google.
– Digital growth projection over five years thought to be
as much as a factor of one hundred
© http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm76/7650/7650.pdf

5. The prologue
“Google will bring you back 100,000,000
answers. A librarian will bring you back the right
answer.”
Neil Gaiman, author.
In the digital search environment you have
become the librarian seeking information from
the Internet.

6. Information literacy
• How to search is part of developing library
skills to become information literate.
• Information literacy is an essential life skill
with impacts in areas such as
 Health & well being  Reading & literacy
 Social care  Employment
 Equality & diversity  Lifelong learning &
 Digital inclusion reskilling
© http://www.informationliteracy.org.uk – accessed 08/11/2012

7. Information literacy
• Expressed as a model
Identify Scope Plan Gather Evaluate Manage Present
Seeking new What information Search How is Issues of quality, To be honest in Difference
information types are techniques information accuracy, information between
available available organised relevance, bias, handling. summarising &
reputation, Important to synthesising
credibility consider the data. Different
ethics of storing presentation
& sharing data styles.
Disseminate
knowledge.
© http://www.sconul.ac.uk – accessed 08/11/2012

8. Simple searching
• Identify
– Voluntary information
• E.volve
• Gosport Voluntary Action
– Local information
• Gosport.info
– Government information
• Gov.uk (replaced www.direct.gov.uk 17/10/2012)
• Office for National Statistics
• Gosport Council
• Hampshire County Council

16. Simple searching
• Scope
– Information types could be physical or virtual
• Websites could be
– Blogs / microblogs (e.g. Twitter) record personal opinions
– Wikis provide and record collaborative information sharing
– RSS (not the Royal Statistical Society, but Really Simple
Syndication) which are web pages read by computer and
delivered to you.
– Information & data, for example, the BBC or the Office for
National Statistics

17. Simple searching
• Plan
– Search techniques
• Keywords • Boolean language
– Alternative • Simple search
spellings
• Advanced search
– Alternative words
– Abbreviations • Google custom
search

18. Simple searching
• Evaluate
– Where is my website from?
• UK is United Kingdom, AU Australia, EU European
– Quality
• Do you recognise the author, company or organisation?
• .ac.uk is from academic sources in the UK, or .gov.uk would
be government
– Relevance
• Does it contain most or all of the keywords, when published,
revised, updated, or posted to the web?

19. What’s on Google?
• Google – what's on offer?
– Web search – Books
– Images – Scholar
– Maps – Alerts
– News – Reader

20. Google web search
Simple web search Advanced web search
On results given you can refine by choosing As simple search but with the addition of filtering by
 Images  Language
 Videos  Region
 News  When updated
 Select a geographical focus  Search within a web site
 Select a time span for the results  By file type
 Usage rights

21. Google v. Boolean
• Boolean search language (AND, OR, NOT) can
still be found in some search services, but have
been overshadowed by the use of keywords.
• In Google you can
– exclude material by using the – sign (Boolean Not)
– Search for two or more words using AND
– Search for a variety of words using OR

22. Search example:
Keyword too general
Too many search hits

23. Search example:
Keywords improved
Too many search hits

24. Search example:
Keywords joined as a
phrase, surplus ones
removed

25. Conclusion
Answers to your questions may be in the Internet
somewhere; knowing what, where and how to find
them is vital to becoming information literate and
develop effective searching.

26. Further support
• Two recommended guides to web searching
– Phil Bradley, President of CIILIP & consultant
• http://www.philb.com
– Karen Blakeman, consultant
• http://www.rba.co.uk/