DIALOG Competency

This week I performed a building block search in DIALOG. A building block search is where key terms or facets are taken out of the naïve question. The facets are then combined with Boolean logic.

Topic of Interest: Nonuser studies

Naïve Question: What are some of the characteristics of nonuser groups identified by public libraries?

DIALOG Search - ERIC:

Thesaurus terms were found using the expand command (e). Just type in e and then the term to get thesaurus terms.

In DIALOG, search statements for each facet can be entered separately. DIALOG then gives the number of items found for each term and then the total found when all terms are combined. Each of the bulleted statements was entered separately.

• ss nonuser OR nonusers

Results from DIALOG:

S1 NONUSER 32

S2 NONUSERS 231

S3 NONUSER OR NONUSERS 254

• ss public libraries

Results from DIALOG:

S4 PUBLIC LIBRARIES (ADDED 07/01/1966) 6403

• ss library research

Results from DIALOG:

S5 LIBRARY RESEARCH (ADDED 07/01/1966) 2062

DIALOG search statements s3, s4, and s5 can be combined to form the following command.

• ss s3 AND s4 AND s5

Results from DIALOG:

S6 S3 AND S4 AND S5 2

I was able to see my results of 2 records using the following command.

• t6/5/all

The following citations were found.

OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (1982). Pilot test of the online public access catalog project's user and nonuser questionnaires. Final report. Dublin, OH: Author.

Rosen, M.E. (1990). Assessing library needs in rural America. Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, 4(1), 87-90.

I looked at the list of 17 records obtained from combining s3 and s4 because I found the library research facet extremely narrowing, and there were relevant resources pertinent to my search question in that search as well, including the two listed above.

This database is amazing! I like the way it shows the number of documents for each aspect of the search statement as well as the combined search statement. It helps you see what terms are actually producing results! This one is the best so far. Also, the thesaurus is more detailed. I felt that the thesaurus terms had the exact wording for what I was looking for.