For each resource, we have made records which provide relevant information
for anyone who may wish to use the resource. Record fields include information about
general aspects of the resource such as cost, medium and copy right details. There are
also several fields with information about the educational style of the resource.
For further details about records please refer to the interpreting results
section.
All resources chosen for SearchLT have
specific pedagogical intent and are of relevance to engineering lecturers
and students. Materials which would NOT normally be included in SearchLT are:-
Searching for resources is a continuous process and we are constantly
looking for new ones. If you are aware of anything which may be suitable
for our database please Suggest a Resource
Searching Methods
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SearchLT supports two different methods of searching for resources.
Browsing
This option utilises a subject classification system and the user will click on subject headings to narrow down the search
until appropriate resources are found. To browse for resources, go to the browse page and click on
one of the engineering subject classifications, e.g civil engineering.
Browsing is particularly useful for people who are not familiar enough with the database to construct word searches
Word Search
This option is available by clicking Search on the top menu bar.
The procedure for using this feature is:
- Type words to look for in search box (see hints for details on word selection and search).
- Underneath the search box, select options from:-
- look for records which contain one of the words
- look for records which contain all of the words.
- look for records which contain all of the words as a phrase.
- The search can be started now by clicking the search button. Alternatively,
some options can be chosen in order to refine the search first.
- The search can be refined by selecting the types of resources required eg price range,
level of material etc using the menus.
- The engineering subject areas can also be chosen by clicking the appropriate boxes. For example if thermodynamics
from a chemical engineering perspective is required, the user could type thermodynamics
in the search box and tic the box next
to chemical engineering before beginning the search.
Several useful hints for searching are:-
- It is recommended that the user tries to use the most general words possible otherwise
some resources can be missed.
- The default option will return any resource which has one of the words entered in the
search box. The resources containing all the words will be returned first.
- It is possible to find all words that share a common stem using * as a wild card.
For example typing rob* would retrieve records containing the words
robots, robot, robotics and robert.
- Hyphenated words are treated as two separate words so records conatining 'computer-based' will
be returned when a search for 'computer' or 'based' is used.
- When using a search, a record will be returned if any of the following
fields contain the word: Title, URL, Alternative URL,
Alternative title, General description and Educational description.
Interpreting Results
After performing a search, the resources found will be displayed in order of relevance
(based on the number of times the word appears in the record) along with a resource description.
The user can go to the URL directly of view the record details. The fields in the record are:-
- General Description:- The description explains what the resource consists of
and the main subjects covered.
- Educational Description:- This field explains the main educational features
of the resource and aims to give an indication of how the resource might be useful for teaching
and learning.
- Technical Requirements:- Explains what is required in order to use the resource (e.g
technical specifications of the users computer).
- Cost:- Gives the cost of the resource per student based on a class size of about 30.
- Awards:- Details of educational awards which the resource has won.
- Main URL:- This is the URL location which can be used to obtain the resource
- Copyright:- Details about how the resource can be used
- Language:- Languages which the resource is written in. At the moment all SearchLt
resources have an English edition.
- Reference to reviews:- Links to reviews which have been written about the resource
- Version
- Publication Date
- Modification Date :- When the resource was last modified
- Medium :- The type of resource e.g Web page or CD-ROM.
- Country of Origin
- Contact Details:- Details of who to contact, should the user have questions about
the resource.
- Educational resource type:- The style of the resource for example simulation,
explanation or assessment.
- Educational level:- The entries in this range from foundation to advanced. Foundation is
for students who are doing a preliminary year or A-Level. Introductory
is for first year in an English university and Advanced is for final year or post graduates.
- Time to use resource:- Estimation of how long it should take to use the resource.
- Interactivity type:- Gives an indication of how much of the users time is spent
interacting through input and feedback. This ranges from highly interactive to expositive.
- Intended end user:- Can be Student which means that it is suitable for independent
learning or Tutor, which means the lecturer will have to provide support or Author which means
that it could be used to create learning resources.
- Tutor support documentation:- Ranges from minimal (e.g one side of A4) to
extensive (e.g a complete teachers manual)
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