I just wanted to comment and say I love this idea of teaching ‘backwards’, which once you explain it makes a lot of sense! I’m hopefully going to give it a go in my conservatoire’s class resource training sessions this autumn – as a music librarian I think my equivalent of ‘frogs’ will be ‘Mozart’ or ‘concerto’ or something, but the principle still stands :)

Edith

So I guess what I’m saying is that by having a dummy search that I can routinely do on new databases I’ve freed myself from the compulsion to actually manipulate the database and ask it for what I really need. I’m simply trying to get something, anything, that’ll help me figure out what types of searches I can do when I return to the search screen to hunt for my actual information need. I’ve gone up to the storefront and asked for “stuff” so that I can figure out if this one sells food or pets.

Does that make sense? In other words, when I’m using this technique in “real life” rather than in classes I can’t ACTUALLY skip the first, frightening search screen. All I can do is sap it of it’s scariness until I can figure out what it can actually do for me, and how I can have a hope of getting it to do what I need.

And, yes, frogs are scientific and cool!

What I wasn’t too clear about is what strategy do you recommend to get that first record when someone–without the expert librarian by their side–encounters a new database for the first time? I assume you are are also trying to teach appropriate self-sufficiency for lifelong info literacy.

But in a class situation I usually do this using screen shots so that I can move everything along without muddying the waters with “now let me just get you to a record in JSTOR for comparison…” Then we move to live search as soon as they’ve explored the screenshot of a full record. So in these situations I usually make screenshots based on searches relevant to the class’ paper topics (if I can divine them).

At the reference desk I mix the first two steps together. So the student and I do a “messy” keyword search. Then we take some time to analyze a couple of records and the result list, gathering terms along the way. Then we experiment with various advanced techniques based on the terms and the record structure we’ve found.

This sounds like a wonderful idea to me, and bless that young woman! But I have a procedural question. If one is using a new database for the first time and wants to use this technique, how do they get a record in the first place?

Do you recommend that they run any sort of search to get any record, or is there some other technique that I’m missing?

I do think this is wonderful since although I may have never articulated it, I have often wondered how I am to (effectively) search for something when I have no idea what form it might take.

I’ve just circulated your post to our reference librarians. Thanks again.