ELECTRONIC SEARCH TERMS AND STRATEGIES

STRATEGY #1 Come prepared to search! You will be more successful if you take the time to prepare a list of search terms related to your subtopics BEFORE you start researching the databases.

STRATEGY #2 Truncate your search terms Truncate = shorten by cutting off Shorten your search terms to include other forms of the word that may be useful to you –Teachers > Teacher > Teach –Teenagers > Teens > Teen This will increase the results of your search

STRATEGY #3 Use a wild card, when appropriate A wild card is usually in the form of an asterisk * It is used basically as it is called… it can represent different letters Can be used so that one search can yield results for more than one search term –Woman or women > wom*n –Grey or gray > gr*y

STRATEGY #4 Think about synonyms and/or multiple spellings when you are searching This is why it is smart to come with your list already prepared… you can include any synonyms and multiple spellings on the list –Ethnic prejudice > racism > racial discrimination –Color > colour

STRATEGY #5 Do not use “stop words” in your electronic searches These words can stop the results of the search and create an ineffective results list –Gender roles in the 1920s (search stops at “gender roles”) You have a stop words list on the back of the handout that explains how to access public library databases from home…

SOME STOP WORDS A, an AfterAndBeforeForFrom In, into Is It, its OfOnOrTheToUnder When, where, what with Within, without

STRATEGY #6 Advanced search or Boolean search When using more than one term to search, you may get better results using an advanced search Enter truncated forms of the search terms into the separate boxes To widen your search, use OR To narrow your search, use AND Make sure to tell the database to search the FULL TEXT or ENTIRE DOCUMENT before searching