ENG0089 - English 4 - Green

When you use the library catalog or a database, you will need to convert your topic or research question into language the computer understands. The following search techniques will help you with this process.

When looking for information about a topic, try to identify the main concepts. Library search tools do best when fewer words are searched, so finding the keywords for your topic will result in better search results. Typically you want to limit your keywords to one or two phrases, with each phrase containing two or less words.

Here are some examples of main keywords identified from a research question.

Should the national minimum wage be raised?

• minimum wage

Do cell phones emit enough radiation to cause cancer?

• cell phones
• cancer

Would a ban on assault weapons lead to a decrease in mass shootings?

• assault weapons
• mass shootings

Does the use of the death penalty violate human rights?

• death penalty
• human rights

Sometimes you will find better search results if you use more official terms. For instance, the legal term for the death penalty is capital punishment, and by using this search term, you will locate results from legal sources. As you search, keep an eye out for results that use these more official terms.

While examining your keywords, consider whether there are other terms that may describe the same concept. You can experiment with your search terms to see which produce the best results.

To keep a phrase of two or more words together, place them in "quotation marks." This means that all search results must have that exact phrase. Be careful with phrase searching! Only place common phrases in quotation marks (a good rule is only two words). Otherwise you may eliminate relevant results that may phrase the topic slightly differently.

Examples

• "academic freedom"
• "minimum wage"
• "human rights"

If you find no search results or not relevant enough search results, use these tips:

• Check your spelling.
• Remove quotation marks from your search terms.
• Review your search terms and see if there are other ways to express the same concepts. Especially pay attention to medical, legal, or other professional terms for concepts.
• Eliminate or broaden one of your search terms that may be less relevant. For instance, if you are searching for death penalty and Gainesville, you may wish to broaden to death penalty and Florida.
• If you added on other limits (such as date ranges or specific types of sources), remove them.
• Consider whether you are using the best resource to search. For instance, if you are looking for a very recent topic, there may not yet be books published about it, as books typically take at least a year to write and publish. Instead of searching the library catalog, you may wish to choose a database with newspapers or magazines.