Description

Where the knowledge applies:
A search that cannot be replicated, documented, or audited is not a systematic search — it is an informed browse. For professional information retrieval work where the comprehensiveness and reproducibility of the search matters, systematic strategy design is the methodological foundation. This module builds it.

What the module works through:
– Research question decomposition: breaking a complex information need into component concepts, identifying synonyms and related terms, and mapping the conceptual structure that the search strategy needs to cover
– Database selection logic: matching the subject domain and information type of a retrieval task to the databases most likely to contain relevant content — and documenting the selection rationale
– Search documentation and reproducibility: recording search strategies in a format that allows them to be reviewed, replicated, and updated — the methodological standard for systematic review and professional research contexts

Module duration: +/- 5 hours

What changes in practice:
A systematic search methodology that produces retrieval work that is comprehensive, documented, and defensible — meeting the methodological standards of professional information contexts where the quality of the search process is as important as the quality of the results it produces.