Topic Finder: Helping Users Search to Research

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As of October 31, Term Clusters has evolved into Topic Finder in Gale Artemis: Literary Sources, Literature Criticism Online, Something About the Author Online, and Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online and all periodical resources such as:

• Academic OneFile
• Fine Arts & Music Collection
• Gardening, Landscape & Horticulture Collection
• Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Life & Issues Collection
• General Business File ASAP
• General OneFile

• Military and Intelligence
• Nursing and Allied Health Collection
• U.S. History Collection
 And more. See a full list of periodical resources by library type.

Why the change?We strive to make our resources more user-friendly, intuitive, and applicable for users. While students found Term Clusters interesting, its name didn’t help them understand how they could use it. So, we’ve changed the name to Topic Finder to better identify its practical functionality for students. Many students struggle with selecting keywords and efficient search queries. Topic Finder will help them navigate these struggles and find a solution. Artemis Home Page

Is that it?
This change is more than just a new name – it’s an evolution. We want the tool to be interesting AND useful. Let’s run through some of the changes:

  • We’ve added explanatory cues on the page and a help overlay to show why students should use the tool and how to use the tool.
  • Students must now click on a word for results in the right-side pane to show up. This change invites users to interact with the tool.
  • A second view option, “Tiles,” has been added, giving students a different way to visualize the terms.
  • Finally, we are currently working on refining the data flowing into the tool to block jargon and other problematic text from appearing. This enhancement will ensure students are getting the right results for their specific searches and not generic topics. This work has been completed for Literature Criticism Online and will be added to the other resources moving forward.

The Final Word
Topic Finder helps make visual relationships between concepts and terms, and supports basic and more advanced researchers. We’re committed to the continued improvement of this tool to help your students achieve the academic success they desire. Look for more future updates on our blog.Nike

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