ERIC TutorialEdit Section

3.1 Advanced Strategy (Continued):

Click on any link to see other related subjects and a definition of the main descriptor (example below). Any of the blue underlined terms are searchable as descriptors. Make note of the exact terms you wish to use, because even a missing "s" will result in a search error.

Image illustrating the expanded term 'block scheduling'

Something very important to remember about your terms - when you are doing your searching, do not call your term a descriptor unless you find it in this thesaurus! If you do, you may have zero results. When you find a descriptor that looks right for your topic, return to the advanced search screen, enter your term, and choose descriptor from the drop down menu.

Are there times when all text searching is the best choice? There sure are! When you are not getting enough results you should try it, or when you have a good search term or phrase that is not included in the thesaurus. For example, "New York" is not an official descriptor, but it is a term that may be important to your research if you are studying something specific to this state.

This descriptor vs. all text choice can be very confusing, so be sure to ask the reference librarians if you need clarification.