Citation Pearl-Growing Search in ASC

Search topic: Lifelong learning resources in public libraries
Database: Academic Search Complete (ASC)
Strategy: From a previous search using "Lifelong Learning" and "Librar*" as my initial search terms I found an article that's particularly pertinent to my topic, so I use it as my "pearl" and look up its record to see what descriptors may be useful to to retrieve more articles like it.

Title: Public Policy as a Factor Influencing Adult Lifelong Learning, Adult literacy, and Public Libraries.
Authors: McCook, Kathleen de la Pena
Barber, Peggy
Source: Reference & User Services Quarterly; Fall2002, Vol. 42 Issue 1, p66, 10p
Subject Terms: *LIBRARY science*LEARNING*FUNCTIONAL literac*LITERACY programs
Abstract: Reviews the context for librarianship and adult lifelonglearning and literacy programs in light of federal legislation in the U.S. as of 2002. Details of the ethical dilemmas of the work first ideology; Capacity of the librarian to foster an attitude of creation and recreation; Role of education of librarianship in preparing graduates to understand the philosophical context of work with adult lifelong learners.

So I added "literacy" to my next search and retrieved 28 hits, with my "pearl" as hit #22:

Evaluation: This strategy greatly improves recall, and that's why it's also called the "snowballing approach." The search terms can be modified along the way depending on the retrieved results. For example from record #23 above there are subject terms that may be incorporated in the next search to retrieve more pertinent results in this particular database:

Subject Terms:

*PUBLIC libraries
*INFORMATION literacy

The search may be repeatedly modified until a satisfactory number of hits have been retrieved. As in previous search strategies, Boolean limiters (AND, WITH, NOT) and non-subject limiters (date, language, document type) are tools for refining the search to a manageable number of hits.

From doing these search excercises I find that each search strategy is best suited for a particular information need, and oftentimes a combination of strategies yields the best results. For instance if the search topic is fairly narrow, then one may start out with the most specific facet first, then if necessary modify the search by the citation pearl-growing approach to improve recall. If the search topic is broad, then either the successive fractions or the building block approach is a more appropriate starting point.