Search Tips
Databases don't like sentences! Unlike Google and other search engines, research databases are very literal and will only match the words that you input. They don't offer alternative search terms and won't correct for typos and spelling errors.
It is up to you to think of all possible ways to express your research topic, and to spell everything correctly. Avoid adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and any other terms that are not considered essential to your topic.
- Brainstorm all synonyms and like terms and connect these with the operator OR. Example:
- "humor" OR "humour" OR "comedy" OR "laughter" OR "absurdity"
- Use quotation marks to retrieve an exact phrase:
- "climate change" "global warming" "environmental justice"
- When you find a useful book or article, make note of the official subject headings or tags assigned to it and add these to your searches if applicable.
- The asterisk (*) symbol will bring up alternate endings to words with a common root:
- environment* will also retrieve environment, environments, environmental, environmentalist, environmentalism.
- Use the AND operator to combine separate concepts:
- imagination AND "climate fiction"
- comedy AND "environmental justice"
NOPE (2022)
Image source: Wikipedia