Product Review

Online Searching puts the aspiring librarian on the fast track to becoming an expert searcher who unites library users with trusted sources of information to answer their questions.

To accomplish this, it ushers you through online searching as a seven-step process:
(1) determining what the user really wants in the reference interview,
(2) identifying sources that are likely to produce relevant information for the user’s query,
(3) dividing the query into big ideas and combining them logically,
(4) hypothesizing whether a known item or a subject will satisfy the query,
(5) representing the query as input to the search system,
(6) conducting the search and responding strategically, and
(7) displaying retrievals, assessing them, and responding tactically.

For key concepts, Online Searching enlists multimedia, representing visually what is difficult to convey via words alone. When you analyze Online Searching’s real search topics, search online, and compare your results with its suggested answers, you’ll experience the seven-step online searching process first-hand. Included are specific recommendations about what you should teach end users about online searching and a method for quickly and efficiently familiarizing yourself with a new database and search system.

Including short video demonstrations, Online Searching is your go-to guidebook for ramping yourself up from novice to expert searcher.