Success, a structured search strategy: Rationale, principles, and implications

Abstract

This study aimed at reevaluating the Success search strategy. It was conducted by in-depth interviews with 15 professional information searchers in a three-round Delphi-type research. The panelists were asked to critically analyze the rationale of structured searching that forms the theoretical basis of the Success strategy, and evaluate its key principles and guidelines. Success is a strategy for structured searching. Its rationale is based on the argument that information searching is a sequence of interrelated actions aimed at accomplishing the search assignment. Every action determines the course of the searching, and thus affects its final result. The searcher's reasoning emerges as a key to the success of the searching process. Consequently, it is essential to adopt structured search strategies that are based on rational search procedures and techniques. The Success strategy is grounded in the principle of planning the search according to five basic successive phases, namely assignment, resources, words, method, and evaluation, and seven generic guidelines: (1) define the assignment, (2) locate resources, (3) choose search words, (4) select methodology, (5) execute the search, (6) evaluate the results, and (7) if necessary, repeat the search by refining previous decisions.