Library and Information Services Planning your search strategy

Step one – consider topic  Spend some time thinking about your topic to define and clarify your research question  Break down search topic into sections  Think of Keywords to describe the topic

Step two – think about search terms  Generic words can be omitted eg: discuss, assess, importance  Consider alternative terms- look at Oxford Reference online business dictionaries  Alternative spellings eg: organiz/sation or behavio(u)r can be expressed as organi*ation /behavio*r to find both spellings  Word endings: truncate using asterisks or question marks eg: leader* leader? This searches for leader, leaders, leadership

Step three – linking search terms  AND search – combining two different subjects together  OR search – alternative words which are often crucial to success of the search eg: cultural differences or diversity  Words as a phrase eg: “job satisfaction”  Don’t try to link too many terms together at once. You might need to search for different aspects of the topic separately

Step four – choosing databases Choosing your database  For articles Emerald full text Academic OneFile PsycINFO – for some topics such as job satisfaction / motivation  Business and market data Marketline Mintel

Step five – searching & modifying  Different databases will use different search terms to describe same subject  Check what subject terms (called keywords in Emerald) are used for your topic and modify the search if necessary  Limit to searching within different indexes eg: subject, article title, author  Limit to years of publication  Limit to type of document eg: books, book chapters, journal articles, conference papers, reports.

Step six – relevant results retrieved  Is the item full text? – go direct to article, perhaps linking via e-journal finder  Is it held in the Library?  If not, articles and books can be requested on Interlibrary-loan.

Topic one- HRM issues in the banking sector  Emerald Banks (banks not banking is the keyword) AND human resource management (phrase)  Academic OneFile Banks or “banking industry”(subject) AND “human resource management” Search for a banking journal title eg: Journal of retail banking services (in publication title index) AND “human resource management”

Topic two: Innovation in organizations  Emerald Competitive* (finds competitive and competitiveness) AND innovation advantage organi*ation* (all the words on same search line) Non-articles: abstracts of articles in other journals  Academic OneFile 1. Competit* and innovation and advantage 2. Subject search for competitiveness leads to competition (economics) Search within results > innovation > advantage

Topic three: Factors affecting job satisfaction or organization loyalty Emerald  Job satisfaction (phrase) AND working conditions (phrase)  Job satisfaction (phrase) AND organizational commitment (phrase) Academic OneFile  “Job satisfaction” AND “working conditions” or “quality of work life” or “work environment”

Topic four: Cultural differences and HRM  Emerald Human resource management (phrase) AND divers* OR “Cultural differences”  Academic OneFile Subject browse search on cultural differences leads to cultural diversity in the workplace: see workplace diversity Advanced search “workplace diversity” (subject) AND “human resource management” Example of article: Creating an environment for global diversity…