I have developed a much broader search vocabulary and vision than 8 weeks ago. The number of tools to which I have been exposed have been, quite frankly, overwhelming, but in a good way. The course demands are high, but the material is presented in bit format, allowing for quick digestion. I must admit that there’s not much time to really process and integrate all the information presented, but I know “concept fusion” will come (at some point in the future.)

The voices of search allow for different perspectives to be presented each week, and offer a glimpse of how search affects various applications/professions. Being exposed to the number of databases, either through the RU hub, readings, vendors, playlists has been an enriching experience. 

A big take away has been to learn each database strengths and peculiarities, to use the facet template to THINK through the search word choices—and only then begin the search process--avoiding the initial gut response to just jump into a search.  

Brown’s book on Google has been eye-opening, and search behavior altering. The number of features Google offers has been hidden from me, and I look forward to using Google Trends, Lens, Images more in the future. I loved the Google Power Search exercise—but the same can’t be said for the one on controlled vocabulary—but I certainly understand the need/importance of CV.

Search is a means to and end, and not the end itself—it’s more of a strategic exploration, as the ACRL’s guidelines suggest. I have not achieved search nirvana or concept fusion, but the journey to expand my search peripheral vision has been enlightening—and for that I am grateful 

Lecture: Week 6-Google a Deeper Dive.  This week was a favorite because I enjoyed looking under the hood and learning more about how Google operates. As a search engine that I use frequently, I took for granted some of the features that it has, because I was unaware, and also because I would focus most of my searches in one mode. Dr. V’s lectures along with the readings from week 6 helped me to realize the value of the other modes that Google has to offer. 

Voices of Search: Mary Ellen Bates was one of my favorite Voices of Search to date. What an inspiring person to kick off this course! Her love of search and ability to articulate her passion, began to change the way I think and attack the search process. Through her focus on the patron/client, and placing a high value on not just finding the information, but presenting a package of what the clients didn’t know, or even perhaps giving them leads toward other avenues that weren’t thought of, solidifies one of my main roles as a librarian, and searcher.  Activity: This was a hard one, and I’ve decided that it’s a tie! I really loved the idea of of Activity #4 Database Comparison because it allowed me the access and opportunity to explore databases that would benefit my school. I was able to compare the features of each with a critical eye that focused on constraints and affordances, which prepared me to have articulate conversations about databases in our library with administrators. The other activity that I enjoyed was the the Search Activity #5: Google Advanced Power Searching Challenge. This activity brought out the competitor in me. I was excited and determined to solve the mystery challenge, and welcomed the opportunity to practice all of the strategies that we’d been reading and learning about from that week. Through this activity the main points of our learning that were reinforced for me were the ideas of spending time acquainting yourself with the topic’s background knowledge, and remembering to utilize all of the modes Google has to offer.

 Readings: I very much appreciated the opportunity to explore the Pearltrees curations for each topic to help enhance my understanding of the readings from Markey,  Brown and Bell, each week. One of the standout articles was the Copyright Friendly Tool kit. This resource had a mix of videos and readings that helped clarify the sometimes cloudy concepts of Fair Use, Creative Commons, and Public Domain. This is definitely a resource to come back to time and time again. 

 

My biggest/overall takeaways thus far –

 

Search is iterative and can be never ending – the trick is knowing how to make each successive search count and where/when to end. Mary-Ellen Bates’ talk was especially illustrative of this, and her passion for search really helped set the tone for the semester.

Strategies and tools abound in the world of search – just as it counts to know how to plan a search, it also counts (perhaps doubly so) to know what tool or strategy to employ for any effort. Each of our Search Activity assignments has helped me to explore these – my favorites being #3 and #5 because of how they really challenged me to stretch myself. Although far from command line expert, I think learning that early in the semester helped me cement a lot of concepts and make the other explorations especially fruitful.

 

Community is everything. All of our Voices of Search and our discussions have highlighted that having a community and professional network of enthusiastic and supportive peers is key to success. This was something I “knew” prior to this class, but I think the exercises and discussions we’ve had – and everyone’s efforts – has helped to really make this point come across. Though deliverables and subject-domains may range, the library community is one that we build together to bridge all of those things. 

 

As to thresholds; I think I am beginning to see the total information environment – far more of it than when I began – so perhaps a half-step into that one. I am definitely strengthening my knowledge of structures and vocabularies, as I mentioned above, search activity #3 was especially helpful for these. And as far as integrating these concepts, I am, once again, beginning too. But, it is an enthusiastic beginning – if that makes sense? It feels like I have the support and scaffolding to move into more intermediate understanding of these concepts, and I have a desire to reach toward an expert, full immersion of crossing all of them.

 The VoS have been extremely beneficial to place the concepts and foundational knowledge in an application setting. I especially appreciated Amy Affelt’s perspective of the search skill set that she looks for when considering job candidates given the importance it plays in how she and her team work to find information in the environments in which they conduct search. This provides me elements I can work/focus on to ensure I have skills and knowledge areas that meet potential employer needs. 

I’m not sure I can say I’ve cross thresholds in all areas, but I do feel that in some areas I have. I have a greater understanding of the information environment, how the structure of subscription databases supports structured search techniques and use of controlled vocabulary, but web searching requires other techniques, tools, and the application of context in search. The weeks we have discussed Google searching and the web has opened my eyes to the depth of search capabilities on the web yet with the understanding a variety of tools and pathways need to be utilized. It seems I have achieved some level of concept fusion, but I feel I have only just begun this part of the knowledge journey. 

One idea that is worth repeating is that search is iterative. I have learned so many skills in this class that I can use to make my searches better and more complex.

Additionally, I have also learned the importance of knowing a database’s controlled vocabulary, and what operators are used on a given site. Basically, you can’t approach one search engine or database like they are structured exactly like ones you have used previously. Each one has its own language, it own algorithm behind its search functions, and knowing that you must recalibrate and adapt across search engines and databases has proved to be very helpful, and has made me a more effective search and informed information professional.

As far as readings go, I have enjoyed Markey’s text and videos especially that summarize key chapters or points, like those blending search techniques in terms of responding to user queries. Brown & Bell has stuck with me quite a bit I think, as I am really surprised by how well and succinctly the authors lay out and explain really complex, not always thrilling/exciting-seeming concepts (like Boolean Logic, database publisher vs. aggregator, etc.), and the charts and diagrams included tend to clarify and cement concepts well for me. Brown’s Harnessing the Power of Google has been far more enlightening than I anticipated, especially when it came to discussing how Google products can be a complement to library catalogs and can be valuable in research. 

I love the added perspectives of the Voices of Search in this course -- I think hearing other professors, voices in the industry, librarians and others talk about things we’re learning in class is invaluable and super interesting! Hearing repeated ideas we’ve discussed, have come up in lecture, etc. is always fascinating, as well. 

The weekly activities can be varying degrees of difficult or time-consuming, but I have enjoyed them quite a bit, in terms of contribution to the final project, putting ideas in practice (like describing databases and their features), among other things has really made me feel like a more competent searcher, because it is directly relevant and applicable practice, which is more helpful than the readings or lectures alone. 

Combined with previous courses I’ve taken and going along each week in the course, I can definitely feel myself moving through Tucker’s thresholds, especially becoming more fluent “in search behaviors” and coming to understand and explore information structures, lately like portals/directories, search engines like Google in a deeper way… and while all of this is clicking, I have also vastly appreciated the knowledge everyone else in the class has been bringing forth every week in discussions and activities. I always enjoy reading about others’ experiences and backgrounds, and how much their points of view, ways of approaching search, and ideas about information and libraries informs the overall learning process. Here’s to a great rest of the semester! 

 

The Voices of Search that has resonated with me the most is still the first one if the semester with Mary Ellen Bates. Her suggestions for how to conduct searches and the most important skill to possess is dissatisfaction with search results is really what has stuck with me the most.

 

Each of the Search Activities have also been a great help. Actually performing these tasks has helped me understand the different concepts, techniques, and vocabulary we’re learning about rather than just reading about them. 

 

Working with Google and exploring their different services has also been an eye-opener. It’s weird to think I’ve had all of these tools at my disposal for so long yet have never taken advantage of them. I know I will be using more of them in the future as well as recommending them to my family, peers and future students and library patrons.

 

As for this specific class, I have learned so much. Before this class I used databases before in the past, but never like this. Using controlled vocabulary, Boolean search and all those details are all new. I actually have now made suggestion at my job at children’s service at a public library to add more databases into our usage. I really want to expand both the staff usage of them but also maybe have lessons for the children. I still think I am a beginner searcher, but I have really learned so much about search in general that I am so excited to use these new skills in my real life. 

Other ahas this semester have come from learning how to identify and curate digital content. Understanding the criteria for digital curation will help me to evaluate the content I read and help me to use social media as a value-added tool for creating information pathways. 

Finally, I have really looked forward to the Voices of Search each week. I think it is especially helpful to see what professionals are doing in the field of information. Voice of Search helps give me a top-down view of the field and helps me to see that library is just one direction that information professionals can take. It also helps me to see the grasp and understand the skill set that is central to all the featured positions within the information profession. This learning relates to Tucker’s first threshold concept of understanding the total information environment. This is something that was missing for me, and a concept that informs how I think about the field as a whole and my direction as an information professional.