6.8 Advanced Searching Techniques

Sometimes you may want to use some more advanced search features including:

• Truncation - if you are unsure of the spelling of a complete word, or you want to search on all endings of a root word: librar* will retrieve library, libraries, librarian, etc.
• Field limits and other limits - to search on subject heading, author, title, date, etc.
• Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT
• Adjacency and phrase: "new york" to retrieve the two words in exact order in the same field rather than new and york as separate words anywhere in the record

The help button for the database will give you more information about how to use these techniques.

"My search didn't work"

Students often complain that their searches retrieved nothing or retrieved thousands of articles that are not useful.  If this happens to you, try the following:

• Entering synonyms and variations for your search words.  Go back to your background reading to see what terms others are using.
• Adjust your scope.  Make your search narrower or broader.
• Try other databases.  Each one covers a unique range of subjects and sources.
• Ask a librarian