Constructing a good search can save you a lot of time and effort. By creating better searches, you can eliminate many irrelevant hits. The following search tips and strategies can help you find relevant articles.
BASIC SEARCH
Most library magazine, journal, and newspaper databases work in the same way. There is a search box in which to place search words, and then you simply click on the search button. Here are a few other search tips to get the best results:
Truncation
Use the asterisk (*) to find all forms of a word. For example, smok* will find smoke, smokes, smoking, smoker and smokers.
Example: smok* and women and effects
AND
Combine search words with AND
Example: smok* AND women AND effects
Date Range
Select a date range to find more recent articles or articles from a certain time period
Limiters
To find articles that contain only the full text of an article and articles from scholarly or peer-reviewed journals, check these boxes when available.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Most library databases will have an advanced search option that allows you to search for terms found in either the title, subject, author, publication name or other portion of the article. This type of searching is more efficient in that the words being searched have to appear in one of these areas (fields) to be included in the results list.
Boolean Searching
Combine your words with AND, OR, or AND NOT by using a drop-down menu. In this example, you would find articles on secondhand smoke and women excluding articles about pregnant women.
Example: secondhand smoke (in first row) AND women (in second row) AND NOT pregnant (in third row)
Field Searching
Select where you want your word to appear by using a drop-down menu.
Example: select Document Title when searching secondhand smoke for to show only articles where it appears in the article title.
MORE SEARCH STRATEGIES
If you are still having problems finding information, try the following search strategies:
Try Different Wording (synonyms) - Think of different words that describe your topic.
Try a Broader Search - Sometimes you may choose a topic that has little written about it or appears in the text of the article but not in the main search fields, such as title and subject. Try to think of a broader term that includes your topic. The more general the search, the more likely you'll retrieve articles.
Phrase Searching - Putting "quotes" around your search words tells the database that you are looking for that exact phrase.