Library:MERLOT II Search Plan

MERLOT II

http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm
Search results are populated in a shared Google spreadsheet where faculty can approve content useful for courses.
Links to faculty approved learning objects can be found on the Bioflex Content Curation site

About

MERLOT II is a repository created by California State University that aggregates tens of thousands of member submitted learning objects. Much of the content is peer reviewed.

It reaches to more international content, so it may contain learning objects that cannot be found through other channels.
Content licensing varies and depends on the rights the creator places on their submission. Each record contains information about the licensing or copyright guidelines for the learning object

      Note: As of July 2014 there was a glitch in MERLOT’s “exact phrase” search in the Advanced Search Materials. 
      The webmaster was contacted and noted the glitch. The searches completed below were done so without that function.

Google site searches were also added to enhance the MERLOT searches

Biology 112

Unit 1: Cells

“membrane phospholipids” Filters: Categories: Science and Technology > Biology > Cytology. Sort by: Date Added = 1 result

Google site searches:
Lipid* OR phospholipid* “cell structure” site:merlot.org = 691 results. From Google search, selected Cytology (45) = 45 results
"nucleic acids" + "cell structure" site:merlot.org = 264 results
eukary* + “gene regulation” = 74 results

Unit 2: Genes to proteins

Gene regulation. Filters: Science and technology > Biology > Molecular biology. Sort results by: Relevance = 8 results

Google site searches:
DNA RNA protein transcription “central dogma” site:merlot.org = 44 results
"bacterial operon" OR "lac operon" -tryptophan animation site:merlot.org = 701 results

Unit 3: Metabolism

Metabolism Filters: Categories: Science and technology > Biology. Other filters: has peer reviews. Sort results by: Relevance = 7 results
Calvin cycle Filters: Categories: Science and technology > Biology. Sort results by: Relevance = 12 results

Google site search:
metabolism "dark phase" OR "calvin cycle" animation site:merlot.org = 1,020 results

BIOL 121

Pyramid of Productivity

Trophic levels Filters: Categories: Science and technology > Biology. Sort results by: Relevance = 4 results

Google site searches:
"trophic level*" OR "food web" + pyramid site:merlot.org = 112 results
trophic + "pyramid productivity" OR biomass + animation site:merlot.org = 88 results
“food web” + (trophic OR consumers OR producers OR heterotrophs OR autotrophs) = 276 results

Genetics

Mendel + meiosis Filters: Categories: Science and Technology > Biology > Genetics. Sort results by: Date Added = 6 results
Mendelian genetics Filters: Categories: Science and Technology > Biology > Genetics. Sort results by: Date Added = 14 results

Google site search: “Mendel’s laws” + (meiosis OR meiotic) = 655 results

Evolution

Genetic drift Filters: Categories: Science and Technology > Biology > Evolution. Sort results by: Date Added = 10 results

Google site search:
evolution + "population genetics" site:merlot.org = 632 results
"mechanisms of evolution" site:merlot.org = 462 results
evolution + "genetic drift" + "allele frequency" site:merlot.org = 64 results

Searches were completed July 2014

Search Efficiencies

Basic search. All terms are entered into the search box. Boolean operators do not apply, nor does truncation or “quotation marks”
Advanced Material Search also requires that all search terms go into one box. To make this search most efficient use the Category selections to narrow to subject specific content.
Advance Material Search includes radio button choices next to the Keyword box (all words, any words, and exact phrase)
Start with broader terms going for a larger set of results combined with a selection from the attributes that MERLOT provides on the Advanced Material Search page. Attributes can also be selected from the results page.
Google site search proved advantageous when wanting to search across MERLOTs search and browse functions. This means it can search within MERLOT and within the other Libraries (OERs etc.) that MERLOT links to. A task that would take multiple steps in MERLOT can be completed with one Google site search.

Limit your search

MERLOT’s peer reviewed content with a 5 star rating is one way to refine the search.
From the results page, Refine Your Search offers several options and indicates the number of objects available for each category
Under Other filters useful filters to select are: has peer review and Creative Commons

Notes & Tips

Hover over the search menu to reveal the variety of ways to search and browse for content within the collection
Search results have an RSS feed for updates on a selected search
Date Added can be selected in the Advanced Material Search, but both Date Added and Date Modified can only be selected from the results page
Search Other Libraries is an option that allows you to choose from various OERs while performing the search within the MERLOT interface
Each learning object contains a list of keywords that can be useful for constructing the next search or modifying an existing search since similar learning objects may be tagged with these keywords

Other search options

Federated search or the Search Other Libraries option allows you to select from a range of other OERs and media sites (YouTube, SlideShare, etc.). Searches are entered using the MERLOT interface. This can be very useful to search multiple OERs rather than going to individual sites
Browse all Materials loads the full MERLOT content for browsing. Limits could be applied using the categories nested under the Refine Your Search heading
Within the metadata of a learning object you can Browse in Categories and select from their linked Subject Headings

Sample Search

Example of Biology 121 search

Concept: Genetics
Topic: Mendelian genetics

The keywords can be entered into the generic search box, but with MERLOT's advanced search additonal attributes can be combined with the keywords to help provide a more relevant set of results.

In this example, the keywords are combined with categories and subcategories along with Date Added to get at newer materials.

Library:Biology 112/121 OER Search Plans

As part of the BioFlex project, this page is intended to assist with searching MERLOT II and was created by Sarah Parker