Understanding Results & Refining Options
Murphy Library's home page has a search box that allows access to all items available throughout the UW System. Using a simple search, illustrated above, we will go over the many ways to refine a search for an object that has historical value starting with the search box on the library's home page.
Things to keep in mind that the researcher has control over are search terms, sub-collections, publication date, types of resource, format (online, digitized, physical, etc).
The advantage to using this search box is ease of use because it imitates the user's experience of a popular search engine such as Google.
The disadvantages to using this search box are the sheer number of mixed and varied kinds of results. That means that the user must sift through hundreds or thousands or results that can be inaccurate, irrelevant, or useless. It can make for a messy or chaotic way to start research, which is why it may be better to use a specific discipline specific database to have a more controlled environment.