Download In the last Module, we learned about quite a few search tips through

In the last Module, we learned about quite a few search tips through the "Quick Tips &
Shortcuts for Database Searching" video. During this module we will be talking more in
depth about a few of these techniques and learn some others that were not mentioned.
Here is a review of what was covered:
Keywords
Subject Terms
Limiters
Advanced Search Box
Boolean Operators
Quotations
Broad/Narrow
Searches
Subject Terms
Index/Thesaurus
Search within a
Publication in a
Database
Cite Feature
Words you think will be in an article about your topic. Can help you find more
specific terms or subjects to search for. If you don’t find things using the first
words you choose try searching using some synonyms.
The words a database used to categorize sources about a particular topic. Each
database may use different Subject Terms or multiple Subject Terms to describe
a source.
Can be used to target your searching, before you search or after to narrow.
Examples of pre-limits include publication year, full text or peer review. Most
limits can also be applied after the fact to narrow down your search. They may
be called filters if you apply them after you search.
Allows you to create a more specific search than the basic search box since you
can target parts of the document to look for your keyword in. We learned about
some of the fields in an advanced search through exploring the graphic in Mod
3.
Capital AND/OR/NOT – the language you use to help the database connect your
words and create a more specific search.
Using “quotations” around a compound term tells the database to search it
together as a phrase. e.g. “Social Media” or “data mining”
You will need to try several different searches in a database to get manageable
and relevant search results. Searching for “data mining” may be too broad and
at the same time searching for “data mining” AND banks AND usernames AND
passwords might be too specific. It’s a balancing act – you will need to try
different combinations in each database.
This helps you figure out what terms the database uses for the topics you are
looking for. If you can’t find a link to this in the database- you can also run a
keyword search and see if you can view the Subject Terms of each article in
your results list. You can use these terms to run a more specific subject search
using the advanced search.
If you have found that a relevant journal title. You can use the advanced search
box to search within that title for your topic. HINT: You may need to move from
a basic search to an advanced search to do this in some of the databases.
This allows the database to automatically generate a citation of each source
using a variety of citation styles, which can be copied/pasted into your
document. HINT: You will need to double check this against the rules of your
style to make sure the database didn’t make any errors.