Library databases are extremely literal: They look for exactly what you tell them. This can make it difficult for new users to find what they want, but it also gives experienced searchers great power over their searches. Here are 
some tips on how to put that power to use in the alumni and learner library databases.
Use AND, OR or NOT
Whenever you add another keyword to your search, you need to tell the database how to use that keyword. This is where what are known as “Boolean operators” come in. The most common operator—AND—tells the database to find only results that contain both words. This greatly limits your search results and helps you find articles that contain keywords two or more concepts at once.
You can expand your search by linking words together with the OR operator. This tells the database that you don’t care which word shows up, as long as at least one of them does.
Finally, the NOT operator helps you get rid of articles that aren’t on your topic, but have the other keywords you want. For example, circulation NOT blood will eliminate articles on the medical meaning of the term when you’re looking for information on the newspaper business.
Specify where you look
Like Web search engines, most library databases automatically search for keywords anywhere in the text of an article. But library databases also allow you to search for keywords in specific locations called fields.
The most commonly used fields are the author, title, and abstract of an article. Databases that focus on specific topic areas provide fields relevant to their content. For example, business databases have a company name field, psychology databases may have a methodology field, and education databases often include an education level field. Typically, a database will also have an index that lists all possible keywords in a field.
Take advantage of subject searches
One of the most useful fields is the subject field. Most database companies review each article and assign it a subject term from a list of possibilities. The list itself is created either by the database company or an outside organization, such as the APA’s official subject terms used in PsycARTICLES.
Subject terms can greatly improve your search, since there will be just one subject term for a particular concept. This means that you don’t have to guess at how various scholars on your topic may have said the same thing. To find the single term that a database uses, look for a link to a thesaurus, index, or subject list—or simply use subject terms from articles you’ve already found.
Create a sophisticated search
Once you start using multiple keywords, Boolean operators, and field searching, you’ll develop some fairly complex search strings. To make sure you’re putting everything in the right place, try thinking of your search like a math problem. Use parentheses and quotation marks to properly organize what you want done first or together. An example:
“civil rights” AND (music OR song OR lyrics) AND (protest OR march)
In the actual databases, you could put the entire search in a single box or let the different boxes take the place of the parentheses.
For more information about advanced search techniques, see the Library Research Handbook’s section on Searching and Sources.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 9:41 am and is filed under Alumni, Learners. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
