More About Search Terms

After singing again "Lord of My Life," Mr. Stone prayed for prayer requests from the class.

Students took out their research "bubble sheets" and made sure they had completed the homework correctly. Mr. Stone went over examples of search term variations on a classroom whiteboard.

Students received a handout on writing a note card. Mr. Stone emphasized the connection between the underlined words in each secondary/subsidiary question on the bubble sheet and the key word listed on a note card.

Fruit Salad Analogy

Mr. Stone compared writing with source material to making a fruit salad. Students want to gather a variety of sources as they would gather a variety of fruit for a salad. Few people are interested in eating unpeeled kiwi or grapefruit. The fruit needs to be prepared--peeled and cut into bite size pieces. Some fruit needs the seeds or pits removed. When writing with source material, writers need to prepare information by paraphrasing, summarizing, or quoting only the most select passages.

Keyword Searches in Databases and Search Engines

Mr. Stone went over how to refine keyword searches in databases and search engines (Section 26b in Diana Hacker and Nancy Sommers' A Pocket Style Manual). Students should know the use of the following common functions:

quotation marks

AND / +

NOT / -

OR

*

()

Students also read Section 26c on locating books.

Using his laptop and video projector, Mr. Stone demonstrated how to locate the high school's library page. He showed the class how to use the library's online catalog. Stone searched the online catalog using the word "Palestine" for a keyword search, a subject search, and a title search to show the varying number of results that would come from each type of search.

Mr. Stone also showed the links to the A. K. Smiley Library and the San Bernardino Public Library sites so students might search for sources through those systems as well. Students who live in San Bernardino County may use the San Bernardino County Library system. Students who live in Redlands may take advantage of the A. K. Smiley Library. Students who live in Riverside County should look up the Riverside County Public Library system.

Homework: Study the list of "information packages" provided during the last class period for a quiz at the beginning of the next class. Students will need to match specific types of sources with their more general category of sources, e.g. a magazine is a type of periodical.