Database Searching

For this competency, I was to investigate a search query using four databases and four search types. The query I chose was “how integrating technological and multimedia components into reading may motivate young readers”.

Search One – ERIC/Building Block

The first database I chose was ERIC and I decided to do a Building Block search. I reduced my query to the following concepts:

Concept 1: technolog* OR multimedia OR multimodal

Concept 2: motivat*

Concept 3: (young AND reader*) OR (teen AND reader*) OR (student*)

I used truncation of terms to allow for different forms of words.

Concept 1 resulted in 117,312 hits

Concept 2 resulted in 49,403 hits

Concept 3 resulted in 572,763 hits

The three terms together resulted in 436 hits. Many of them were not pertinent to my query. I decided to slightly change my concepts to hopefully limit my results better:

Concept 1: technolog* OR multimedia OR multimodal

Concept 2: (motivat* AND read*)

Concept 3: young OR teen OR student*

My results this time were much better: 96 results, generally much more relevant to my query than the prior search.

One of the returned matches was this article:

Larson, L. (2009). e-Reading and e-Responding: New Tools for the next Generation of Readers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(3), 255-258. Retrieved from ERIC database.

Search Two - LibraryLit/Specific Facet First

My most specific facet was obviously Concept 2.

Searching (motivat* AND read*) in LibraryLit resulted in 139 records. Since my most specific facet had not included the ideas “technology” or “multimedia”, many of the hits were not specifically related to my query. I did find the following article of interest:

Edwards, B. (2009). Motivating Middle School Readers: The Graphic Novel Link. School Library Media Activities Monthly, 25(8), 56-8. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.

If I were using the most specific facet first technique for this query, I would have further narrowed my search by continuing with a building block or successive fraction search.

Search Three – Academic Search Premier/Successive Fraction

For my third search, I used the ASP database. For my successive fraction search, I began with Concept 3, the broadest of the three concepts.

A search of (young OR teen OR student*) gave 842,244 matches. As expected, few of the returned articles were pertinent to my query.

I added Concept 1 (technolog* OR multimedia OR multimodal). This time my results were limited to 59,073 articles. Again, many of the retrieved articles were not directly about reading or motivation.

I added Concept 3 (motivat* AND read*). This reduced my hits to a very workable 107. Many of these were indeed pertinent to my original search, including the following article:

Hill, R. (2010). When Technology and Books Collide. Book Links, 19(3), 9-11. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Search Four – LexisNexis/Citation-Pearl Growing

For my fourth search I chose the LexisNexis database. I selected ‘basic search’ and entered my search string:

(young OR teen OR student!) AND (technolog! OR multimedia OR multimodal) AND (motivat! AND reading), limiting my results to the past five years. I received 992 hits, the majority of which were not what I was looking for. Scanning the first page of results, I did find an interesting article relevant to my search:

Karaoke boosts reading skills; Three studies find 'amazing' effect on literacy through singalong computer software”. The Toronto Star, May 14, 2007 Monday, NEWS; Pg. A12, 468 words, Andrea Gordon, Toronto Star.

I selected this story and, after reading the article, decided to narrow my search by two of the subject headings listed at the bottom of the article: “computer software” and “literacy and illiteracy”. I received only 7 hits. I went back to the search screen, keeping the two subject headings, but changing my search to simply “reading”. This time I received 149 hits, several of which were pertinent. One of the hits was:

'They're excited about learning'; Students at all nine English school boards in Quebec - and at many French boards as well - are improving their reading and writing skills with multimedia software developed at Concordia University

The Gazette (Montreal), March 4, 2010 Thursday, NEWS; Pg. A3, 718 words, BRENDA BRANSWELL, The Gazette