Database Search: WorldCat and ERIC

My second grade students are learning about the woodland forest ecosystem in science this month. I am integrating writing skills with science. I want to teach my students how to research different kinds of animals and the layers of the forest and complete a technology project that will use the information they have researched. I am focusing the search on teaching students research skills in the library.

'naive' question
" What lessons do I need to prepare to teach my students how to use the library to research information about woodland forests and animals?"




















Boolean search statements:
(Elementary school students or elementary education or children) AND (research skills or library skills or information literacy or student research or information skills) AND (lessons or activities or library instruction or curriculum)

ERIC/Search database

SSI: (elementary education or children) AND (research skills or library skills or student research) AND (lessons or activities or library instruction)

results: 1,118 records

Citation
Messmer, N. (2006). Developing Powerful Student Researchers. Learning and Leading with Technology. 33(4), 23-25.

SS2: (elementary students or children) AND (research skills or library skills) AND (lessons or library instruction)

results: 40 records

Citations: I am posting 4 citatations of articles that I think pertain to my area of interest.

Moody, R. (1997). On the Process of Inquiry: A Synergy of Teacher, School Library Media specialist, and Student. School Library Media Activities Monthly. 14(1), 31-34,50.

Gauthier, L. R. (1990). Teaching Upper Elementary Students about Reference Skills. Arizona Reading Journal. 19(1), 27.

Wesley, T. (1991). Teaching Library Research: Are We Preparing Students for Effective Information Use? Emergency LibrarianHammond, J. K. (1987).

"Primary" Research: A Program of Basic Research Skills for Primary Students. School Library Media Activities Monthly. 3(10), 26-29.. 18(3), 23-24,26-30.

WorldCat database

SSI: (elementary education or children) AND (research skills or library skills or student research) AND (lessons or activities or library instruction)

results: 9

Citation:
Los Alamos Public Schools. (1998). Library curriculum Grades K-6. [S.l.]: Los Alamos Public Schools.

SS2: (elementary students or children) AND (library skill or research skills) AND (lessons or library intruction)

Results: 2

Conclusion: The ERIC databases yielded more results for my query than the WorldCat databases. The second search statement had a fewer number of results compared to my first search statement and I was able to locate quite a few relevent articles to the query about teaching elementary students research skills. The first search yielded way to many results to sift through. It was easier and quicker to look over the results from the second search statement. WorldCat brought up the same few articles. WorldCat is a much larger database so I thought I would have had a greater number of results from WorldCat but ERIC is database focused on education realted journals and articles. The use of the subject headings played an important part in the difference in the number of results obtained because each database has their own list of subject headings. Knowledge of which database would best fit the query should also be taken into consideration when helping a patron conduct a search.