These search strategies can help you in any database you use.
Keywords fall into three main categories: Broad, Narrow, and Related.
- Broad: More general categories (example: language)
- Narrow: A specific category (example: sports, culture, cuisine, or, more specifically, "Peruvian food")
- Related: Synonyms or similar terms, or terms connected to your topic (example: language acquisition, dialect, food, customs, Spanish, French, German)
Use the database's Advanced Search feature to combine keywords. Start with the main ideas in your thesis statement. Add or revise using new keywords as you find them.
- Search with specific keywords (not questions or long phrases).
- Search 2-3 keywords at a time. Each keyword you add will reduce the number of results.
- Use quotation marks around words you want to search as a complete phrase ("language acquisition").
- Limiters: Always use the Full-Text limiter. If you need peer-reviewed information, use the Peer-Reviewed limiter. You can also adjust the date range to get the most current articles.
- Number of results: Strive for no more than 200 results. If you have more than that, try revising your search. You want a manageable list of results so that you can look through them all.
Boolean Operators: AND, OR, NOT
- AND: for combining unrelated search terms (culture AND Peru)
- OR: for searching similar words (food OR cuisine)
- NOT: for eliminating results ("food culture" NOT "food recipes")
