Library Database Searching Techniques and Tips

Not getting the search results you want? You may want to try some of the following search techniques.

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Boolean Operators: AND - OR - NOT

AND Narrows Your Search

Joining search terms with AND looks for results which must include all of your keywords.

• alcoholism AND schizophrenia
• cancer AND lung

OR Broadens Your Search

Joining search terms with OR narrows your search. Great for synonyms.

• Hispanics OR Latinos
• soccer OR football

NOT Limits Your Search

Joining search terms with NOT excludes keywords from your search.

• pets NOT dogs
• paris not hilton

• Are you looking for articles published in academic journals only during 1994-1998?
• Are you interested in only finding articles in German language publications?
• Do you only want to find essays published in books?

Most databases provide an option to set limits or parameters that the database will follow. You can often limit your search by language, time period, or type of material.. Other databases may provide additional options to help you narrow your search and retrieve fewer results.

Please note that often limits only appear in advanced search option.

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WildCards/Truncation

• Woman or Women?
• Philosopher? or…Philosophers? or…Philosophy?

If you want to search different variations of words, try using wildcards or truncation symbols. For exampleWant to make sure you cover all bases when keyword searching? Try wildcards or truncation symbols!

• wom?n finds woman or women
• philosoph* finds philosopher, philosophers, philosophy...
  

The symbols used may vary by database (* or ! or ? are common symbols). Check with the database's help features to find the correct symbol.