Research Guides: Information Literacy: Creating Effective Search Strategies

Get Assistance

Contact a Librarian

View the library's Help page for all the ways you can contact us.

We can help you via chat, email, phone, text, or virtual appointment.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will demonstrate effective search strategies by:

Understanding the scope of information sources available and how to access them
Identifying where to search for the most appropriate information (databases, websites, archives etc.)
Using effective search terms and techniques
Evaluating search results and adjusting search strategy as necessary
Persisting through search challenges and asking for assistance when needed

Activities & Lesson Plans

The Sorting Machine by Peter Catlin
This game allows students to practice determining what type of resource they have found to use in their research. The lesson plan is written with library instruction in mind, but could be adapted for a classroom or online format.
Transforming the "Failed" Search by ACRL
Students will learn that a "failed" search, or one that garners no results or irrelevant results, is to be expected and they will acquire the skills to adjust their search to better suit their needs.
Scholarly Article Autopsy by Krista Bowers Sharpe
Students will examine a scholarly article in depth to identify and evaluate its structure and content in comparison with a non-scholarly article on the same topic.
Social Justice in Information by Margaret Brown-Salazar
Based on Dr. Safiya Noble's Algorithms of Oppression, this lesson plan instructs students on deconstructing information seeking, encouraging critical thinking in considerations of authority, privilege, etc.
Research Resources: The Card Game by Zoeanna Mayhook
This information literacy lesson plan adapts the game Apples to Apples to teach students about various research resources.
Keyword Mapping
A handout to brainstorm and map keywords.
From Newspaper Article to Research Article
In this assignment, students are given a range of newspaper article about science topics and work in pairs to find the original research article that the newspaper article is based on in the library databases. Students then assess when they might use an original research article vs when they might use a well-written newspaper article.
Literature Review Matrix
Database Speed Dating
In this activity students are prompted to explore a few databases and evaluate them for their functionality and scope.

Videos

How to Write a Literature Review
A collection of videos/resources that walk students through the literature review process

Online Tutorials & Resources

Selecting Keywords to Search | Auburn University Libraries
This online tutorial walks students through the process of generating search keywords. Includes videos, quizzes, written instruction, and activities.
Search Strategies: Design, Refine, Adjust | New Literacies Alliance
This online tutorial outlines the process of forming keywords to assist in using search tools more efficiently.
Basic Search Strategies Tutorial | St. Kate's
This tutorial demonstrates how to create and effective search strategy to find relevant resources on a topic.
Advanced Search Strategies Tutorial | St. Kate's
This tutorial demonstrates techniques you can use to crate a more advanced search strategy for efficient searching.
Understanding Search Tools
This infographic from Loyola University shows how different research tools work in relation to one another.