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Supplies
needed:
warm
humans (for safety, at least 25)
open-minded
students
Description:
This is another great way
to actively demonstrate how Boolean operators are used in
researching library resources. Be willing to ham it up and
turn it into a lively and entertaining exercise.
First explain the concept
of a database as a collection of anything that can be organized
and searched. Then
tell students that they are going to be your personal database and
that you are going to search the database for some companions to
take to lunch.
Tell the students that you
can only take a few students out to lunch, because after all,
you're a poor, underpaid librarian. However, you are very
selective about whom you take out to lunch, so ask for all
students who are wearing denim of any kind to stand up. Have
a student count the number of people standing. Sadly, the
number is always too many people for you take out to lunch.
Refine your search and ask
instead that all students wearing corrective lenses stand
up. Have another student count the number of people
standing. This number is also too large - it's so sad!
Refine your search again
by asking those students wearing denim and corrective
lenses to stand up. This usually brings the number of
students down to a much smaller number and voila! you have your
lunch companions. Prizes might be in order here, if not the
actual lunch.
Ask the students to
explain what just happened. Reinforce the idea that the
Boolean operator and helps to narrow your search, returning
fewer results. You can follow up with a similar
demonstration in the library catalog or an online database.
There are a variety of
ways that you can vary this activity:
- try the exercise using the or operator
and the not operator.
- use different characteristics,
depending on your class participants.
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Time needed in class: 5 minutes
Learning Outcomes: addresses
ACRL Information Literacy Standard #2 |
