Abstract
Tertiary programmes for teaching online searching consist typically of the components of an online search system, different categories of databases, overview of database hosts and their search facilities, methods to create search strategies and command languages, to name but a few. Practical experience, an integral component, is gained by searching interactively on one or more database hosts, where the emphasis is on search techniques rather than the intrinsic characteristics of the databases of the specific system. The extent of students' hands‐on experience invariably depends on the teaching unit's budget, which may preclude extensive ‘live’ exposure. However, the technical facilities and shared resources of a local area network (LAN) are likely to have a significant effect on the traditional teaching methods of online searching. It is now possible, in a LAN environment, to integrate the various information retrieval activities, for example creating and searching personal or local databases, utilising these for indexing, abstracting and thesaurus building, searching locally on CDROM databases which simulate the search facilities and command languages of commercial database hosts and, when the need arises, accessing their external ‘online’ counterparts. This article will demonstrate how the limited concept of ‘online searching’ is broadened when a LAN and local databases are utilised in the online teaching process.
Published Version
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