This has been the most challenging part of the Challenge for me so far. I have literally spent hours playing with Proquest, trying to understand it. I think the light bulb finally came on this evening.
Proquest is very "unencyclopedic." I just made up that word, for lack of a better term. In other words, it's very different from the previous sites I've used during this Challenge. And it's been a very long time since I have had to write a research paper.
First, I tried going in cold, and entering keywords. Didn't really understand the results I was getting. Seemed like the text articles I was finding were all book reviews. Began thinking "Why would I ever want to use this????" Today I talked to our Adult Services Librarian, Nita, and asked her that very question. Nita is very smart and very nice and VERY patient with me. She is also younger than I am, and I believe her brain to be much more nimble than mine.
Nita helped me see the value of Proquest as a research tool, and how it would be of value to someone doing research. It is a step up from the range of the World Book and SIRS sites. OK, that makes sense.
I did take time to read through the User Guide, which helped some. But mostly I sat down this afternoon and evening and played with the site. It took me a while, but I learned to find helpful information. I searched a bunch of different topics, in order to better understand the scope and limitations of a Proquest search.
My main observation: I think it would be difficult (or frustrating) for a patron to use Proquest for the first time without some guidance from someone who has previously worked with it.
I really enjoyed Filia's post on her blog. It's great to read about her enthusiasm for Proquest. I think she had a much better vision of its potential than I initially did.
Gentle Reader, we appreciate your honesty in sharing your frustration. My own point of view is that ProQuest searching is much more "librariany" than the other resources so far, and I tend not to think in Sears Subject Headings terminology! For that reason, I highly value the "Suggested Topics" box to help me hone my search to exactly the right thing. Thanks for giving this a whirl. Remember, it contains popular, trade, and scholarly publications, so if a recipe is ripped out of your library's Good Housekeeping, you can find it here. (Practical, not just research.) :)
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