Searching in library databases is often a very different experience than searching Google or other search engines. Use these tips to make the most of your searching.
Multiple Key Words or Phrases: Place in separate boxes or separate by Boolean operators. Don’t string them together all on one line as you would in Google.
Phrase Search: Use quotation marks to indicate a phrase search.
It is often helpful to try a phrase search as a regular search as well, to see which returns better results (neural networks vs. “neural networks”)
For example: "invasive species" "climate change"
Truncation: Add an asterisk * to the end of a term to retrieve results with multiple endings
For example: bio* will find biology, biological, biologically, bioethical, biochemistry, etc.
Boolean Operators can help you expand or narrow your search
AND: ("climate change" AND biodiversity) Narrows your search so that only records containing both search terms come back to you.
OR: (deforestation OR "forest degradation") Broadens your search so that all records containing either term come back to you.
NOT: (“clean energy" NOT solar) Narrows your search so that only records that contain the first term and not the second term come back to you.
You can combine as many of these techniques as you want in the same search!
Successful searching in Google and other search engines requires a slightly different approach to successful searching in library databases. Use these tips to make the most of your searching time.
The more terms you enter, the more focused and specific your results will be. (You don't need to use AND to connect your search terms, like you would in a library database)
climate change
climate change weather patterns
climate change weather patterns flooding
Most search engines don't support truncation (*), but they do support OR and parentheses:
(biodiverse OR biodiversity)
Use quotation marks around a phrase to find those exact words, in that exact order.
"climate change" "weather patterns" "biodiversity loss"
Use AROUND and numbers in parentheses to find words or phrases within a certain number of words of each other on a page:
"climate change" AROUND(6) flooding
Use the minus sign to exclude terms (instead of using NOT, as you would in a library database)
"climate change" effects -"global warming"
Use site: to search a single web site or top-level domain:
"climate change" site:gov
"climate change" site:data.un.org
Different authors and sources may use different language to talk about the same thing. As you are doing your searching, make a note of what keywords worked well and where. For example, more scholarly terms might work best when searching scholarly literature and common, non-technical terms might work best when doing general internet searching.
To identify keywords for your topic, look to a reference source like an encyclopedia or even Wikipedia and make lists of terms used in the articles. Also be sure you're paying attention to the keywords listed in the databases and articles you're using.
SIFT is a helpful acronym for initially evaluating source credibility. SIFT stands for:
Modified from Mike Caulfield's SIFT (Four Moves) and Rowan University's Evaluating Online Sources LibGuide
Later, when you determine that the site is worth your time, you can analyze the source's content more carefully.
Depending on your research area, substantive sources can be very valuable research tools. They are more detailed and reliable than popular sources, but are often easier to read and more timely than scholarly sources. They are typically written by journalists or subject experts; what sets them apart from popular sources is that they are trusted to be thoroughly researched and fact checked. Substantive sources identify their sources, which can be valuable as you continue on your research journey.
Sometimes, a media outlet will publish substantive pieces along with non-substantive pieces, so don't be concerned if not everything in the magazine/journal/website seems to be a substantive source.
Identifying characteristics of substantive sources:
- Audience: General public seeking deeper knowledge and academics/professionals looking to see how an issue/topic is discussed in non-specialized media.
- Author: Typically either journalists or scholars.
- Content/Tone: Reports on and explores a given topic in depth (explores topics from multiple angles, indicates deep research with wide variety of sources, etc)
- Review Process / References: Reviewed by an editor and fact checker employed by the publication. Should include references, usually in-text, but occasionally at the end of the piece.
- Examples: The New Yorker, Huffington Post Highline, Jacobin, Buzzfeed News