Academic Reference Interview & Search Strategy Development
Conduct expert reference interviews and build multi-database search plans
What You Can Do
You'll master the librarian's approach to research by learning how to conduct structured reference interviews that clarify your exact information needs. This skill helps you design comprehensive, multi-database search strategies tailored to your research question, including optimized Boolean search strings, database selection logic, and source evaluation frameworks that ensure you find the most relevant academic sources efficiently.
Features
Structured questioning to understand your research scope, audience level, time constraints, and disciplinary context
Recommendations for which academic databases to prioritize based on your topic, discipline, and coverage needs
Crafted search strings using operators (AND, OR, NOT), truncation, phrase searching, and field-specific syntax ready to paste into each database
Tailored search approaches for PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, JSTOR, ProQuest, EBSCO, and discipline-specific repositories
Identify core concepts in your research question and systematically map synonyms and related terminology across databases
Evaluation criteria for peer review status, publication venue, author expertise, and relevance to your research level
Formal methodology documentation suitable for inclusion in literature review sections and research reports
Diagnostic strategies to troubleshoot low-yielding searches and adapt your approach based on what databases return
Example Output
Reference Interview Summary:
- Research question clarified: "How do AI language models affect writing pedagogy in higher education?"
- Target audience: Master's thesis committee
- Disciplines: Education, Applied Linguistics, Computer Science
- Time focus: 2015-present (when LLMs emerged)
Recommended Search Strategy:
| Database | Primary Search String | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| ERIC | ("language model*" OR "artificial intelligence" OR LLM) AND (writing OR composition) AND (teaching OR pedagogy) | Best education-focused coverage |
| Scopus | TITLE-ABS-KEY(("language model" OR ChatGPT OR GPT) AND (writing OR composition) AND (student* OR learner* OR pedagog*)) | Multidisciplinary reach |
| Web of Science | TS=("large language model*" OR "generative AI") AND TS=(writing OR composition) AND TS=(education OR teaching) | High-impact journal filtering |
Search Protocol Documentation:
Inclusion Criteria: ✓ Peer-reviewed journal articles or conference proceedings ✓ Published 2015 or later ✓ Addresses AI/LLM impact on student writing
Exclusion Criteria: ✗ Opinion pieces without empirical evidence ✗ Non-English language sources ✗ Focus limited to grammar-checking tools (pre-LLM era)
What's Included
- Reference Interview Template: Structured questionnaire to clarify your research scope, audience, disciplinary context, and search constraints
- Search Strategy Worksheet: Planning document to map core concepts, synonyms, and Boolean logic before constructing search strings
- Academic Database Guide: Overview of major databases (ERIC, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, JSTOR, ProQuest, etc.) with coverage profiles and search syntax
- Boolean Search Syntax Guide: Tutorial on operators, truncation, phrase searching, and field-specific commands with database-specific variations
- Search Protocol Template: Formal documentation format for recording search strings, results counts, dates, and database-specific adjustments for your methodology section
- Source Evaluation Checklist: Criteria for assessing peer review status, author credentials, publication venue, and relevance to your research question
Who It's For
- Graduate students writing theses and dissertations
- Academic researchers conducting systematic literature reviews
- Research librarians and information specialists
- Faculty preparing literature reviews for grant proposals
- Undergraduate honors students undertaking capstone research
Best For
- Conducting comprehensive literature reviews for theses and dissertations
- Designing search strategies for grant proposals or research funding applications
- Finding interdisciplinary sources across multiple databases simultaneously
- Troubleshooting unsuccessful searches and refining keywords
- Creating reproducible, documented search protocols for research methodology sections
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