Introduction to Assessing and Improving Result Relevance
Relevance refers to whether found sources meet your defined information needs.
Does the source:
- Relate to your topic?
- Answer or elucidate a question?
- Provide information appropriate to your level of study and understanding?
Assessing and Improving Result Relevance
Is it Relevant?
Picture this: you've found a source which seems promising. You invest 20 minutes of your time to read it, but by the time you reach the conclusion, you realise it has nothing to do with your topic. Frustrating right?
Rather than wasting time or trying to make the most of irrelevant sources, try these top tips for determining relevance quickly instead. To figure out if a source is worth reading, you should look at clues from the source. These clues will help you decide whether to keep reading or move on to something else.
Click each of the dropdowns below to learn more.
Improving Result Relevance
What do we do if there aren't any relevant sources in our search results? When reviewing your search results, you may find that:
You have too many results
If you have too many results, your search probably needs to be a little more specific. Click the dropdowns below to learn more about how to refine your search results by changing your search terms, tools, or technique.
Click the drop downs below to find out more.
You have too few results
If you have too few results, your search probably needs to be a little more generic. Click the dropdowns below to learn more about how to refine your search results by changing your search terms, tools, or technique.
Click the drop downs below to find out more.
