Keywords + searching = a search strategy
Searching using library tools, like a database, is different from searching Google. Generally you need to connect keywords together to create an effective search strategy. Here are several techniques for connecting keywords:
AND
Using AND in your search connects different ideas or concepts
- for example: princesses AND “gender roles”
OR
Using OR in your search will include similar concepts or the different ways a topic is discussed
- for example: teenagers OR adolescents
Phrase searching
Using quotation marks in your search for phrases, or words that belong together
- For example, “video games” or “social media” or “gender stereotypes”
Filters
Filters narrow your search results by set criteria: publication date, source type (magazine, scholarly, news, etc.), subject area and much more. Decide what is most useful to your topic!
- For example, a topic of public transportation in Minneapolis might benefit from filtering to certain years of publication
How to put the keywords into a search box
Using these techniques, we can take keywords and put them into a search box.
Taking keywords from our previous work:
Subtopics from our example | additional keywords found | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| "gender stereotypes" | "gender roles" | "sex roles" | "gender norms" |
| "popular media" | superhero or superheroine | Marvel or superhero | Disney or princess |
| children | child | youth | "early adolescents" |
We enter keywords into a search box:
For this example, we are searching Academic Search Premier. Notice how we don't search every keyword at once. We pick a few from each column at first, then different ones, etc.
