What type of coins were highly treasured by Vikings?
Demonstration:
Two slightly different queries are used to find information that addresses the question above.
Query 1 = coins treasure Vikings
Query 2 = coins highly treasured Vikings
The first page of results retrieved by two different queries were compared to determine which one produced the hotter results.
(this demonstration is followed by an assignment--see below)
Colder than you are now:
The information does not appear to contain clues or be related to your search. Information is off topic.
Hotter than you are now:
The information contains potential clues, related information and information on the topic as well as answers to your question.
Example 1: coins treasure viking *
Of the first 10 snippets, 9 appear to contain language that may be helpful for homing in on an answer.
Potentially Hottest Leads: 1--MSNBC: Viking-era silver coins found in Sweden (more than 1000 silver coins in a Viking-era...). 2--The Local: Viking treasure found on Gotland (cache of silver coins). 3--BBC: Cuerdale Hoard (largest Viking silver treasure trove found outside Russia).
Potentially Warmer or Hotter Keywords: silver, Cuerdale Hoard, trove, cache, Gotland, Sweden, Scotland, Russia
Example 2: coins highly treasure viking *
Of the first 10 snippets, 4 appear to contain language that may be helpful for homing in on an answer.
Potentially Hottest Leads: 1--icCheshireOnline: History unearthed (Cuerdale Hoard is greatest Viking slever treasure trove ever found). 2--MSNBC: Viking-era silver coins found in Sweden (more than 1000 silver coins in a Viking-era...)
Potentially Warmer or Hotter Keywords: silver, Cuerdale Hoard, trove, Gotland, Sweden
Observations:
1. Adding one keyword results in fewer hot leads and less new vocabulary.
2. Both searches returned some of the same hottest leads. While different results appear when one word is added/subtracted, both queries seem pretty effective.
3. Hottest new keywords I might try in a new query: Cuerdale Hoard, silver, trove, cache.
Assignment: Conduct your own Hot and Cold Searching experiment for the following Viking question:
By what name are the silver Arabic coins known that are found in Viking hoards?
Report your findings in your JOURNAL (see "Hot and Cold Searching"). Include the following information:
- Your two Queries
- The results of each query, including hottest leads and vocabulary
- Your Observations, following the example above
- An answer to the question and where you found it