They Say, I Say: Find What's Interesting and Engaging

To understand this approach, think of your search target (library catalog, library database, Eagle Search, Google, etc.) as a large collection of what "they say."

Your electronic search can be understood as a conversation between you and the tool or tools you use to find and select sources. What you "say" to the tools will determine how well they respond to your query -- that is, the results you get from your search.

The quality of your conversation -- your search and the search results -- will depend on

• where you search (library catalog, library database, Eagle Search, Google, etc.);
• the kinds of sources you look for (books, scholarly articles, video, web pages, etc.);
• the search terms you use (keywords, subject tags, titles, etc.); and
• how well you combine your search terms into a search phrase (using Boolean operators such as AND and OR, as well as other search limiters and operators).