LibGuides: Writing Skills: Searching Effectively

Basic Search Tips

Unlike Google, library databases can't understand an entire sentence. So you'll need to break your topic down into the most important ideas - the KEYWORDS.

Example Topic: What was the effect of social media on candidate preference in the 2016 US presidential election?

The specifics of your topic will matter when selecting sources, but for searching you only need the most essential components.

Keywords: social media, candidate preference, 2016 US presidential election

Tutorial - Finding Keywords

If you find you need to practice choosing keywords, try the Finding Keywords tutorial.

Most words have synonyms that mean the same, or very similar, things. For each keyword in your topic, try to come up with at least one synonym. Not all keywords will have synonyms, but many do!

Example:

Keyword: social media Synonym: Facebook

Keep an Eye Out

Sometimes scholars use terms that you might not be familiar with, or which might mean something very specific within the discipline. While searching, look for unfamiliar terms or words that show up a lot. Try searching for those and see if you find more relevant sources.

One Search and the individual library databases have built-in search tools. Try some of these:

Subject: Think of subjects as official hashtags. Use them to find sources about that subject.
Date Range: Limit your search to sources published between specific years.
Peer Reviewed: Limit your search to scholarly journal articles.
Full Text: Make sure all the results are available to read in full.

Writing Skills

Basic Search Tips

Most words have synonyms that mean the same, or very similar, things. For each keyword in your topic, try to come up with at least one synonym. Not all keywords will have synonyms, but many do!

Example:

Keyword: social media Synonym: Facebook

Keep an Eye Out

Sometimes scholars use terms that you might not be familiar with, or which might mean something very specific within the discipline. While searching, look for unfamiliar terms or words that show up a lot. Try searching for those and see if you find more relevant sources.

One Search and the individual library databases have built-in search tools. Try some of these:

Subject: Think of subjects as official hashtags. Use them to find sources about that subject.

Date Range: Limit your search to sources published between specific years.

Peer Reviewed: Limit your search to scholarly journal articles.

Full Text: Make sure all the results are available to read in full.

In OneSearch, use the All Filters tab at the top of your results page. For "Advanced Search," options appear to the right and below the search boxes.

For the Ebsco databases, filters will be to the left of your search results. --------------------------------------->

For the Nexis Uni database, filters also will be to the left of your search results.