Key
Concepts Database
Searching
Databases differ in the following aspects:
Size of database
- Small databases are usually selected for a specific reason or criteria
- Medium-sized databases will usually have pages that the larger ones miss
- Larger databases are more difficult to search accurately
Method of indexing
- Full-text - Good for specific-term searching
- Keyword - Good for general searching
- Human - Works in with quality control and 'pick lists'
Presentation of Results
- Relevance information - some databases tell you the number of terms matched
and give you a relevance score for each document
- Abstract - The blurb you get about the page can be the address up to a human
written, multi-sentence abstract about the page.
- Continuing the search - Some databases make it easy to "find more like
this one".
Search Engine capabilities
- Boolean - Many engines do not allow Boolean searching
- Pseudo-Boolean - Most engines do allow this "natural language"
method of searching
- Phrases - The most powerful way to find what you are looking for
- Term Weighting - When usable, this can help your ranked output be more relevant
- Truncation - Most allow some form of truncation, but not all
Click here to Practice
what you have learned about database searching.
Last Updated: 8/2/04