General Search Tips

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Use Boolean Operators Properly!

AND

Using AND combines search terms so that each search result contains all of the terms. For example, the search query Irish AND medieval AND food finds results that contain all three terms.

Confused? Check out my Venn:

OR

Using OR combines search terms so that each search result contains at least one of the terms. To get more results on a search, one could OR together terms or phrases that are synonymous to one another. For example, the search query Irish OR hibernia OR Gaelic finds results that contain any one, two, or all of the three terms.

Venn time:

NOT

The NOT operator excludes terms so that each search result does not contain any of the terms that follow it. For example, Irish AND medieval NOT food finds results that contain the terms Irish and medieval, but rejects any of those that contain the term food.¹

Venn time:

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Phrase Searching and Term Grouping

There are many times when a single term just doesn't cut it for a particular search topic. Additionally, grouping like terms together (synonyms) will retrieve more records. These are two of the easiest to grasp and most useful search tools. Use these everywhere, from Google to MEDLINE.

Phrase Searching

The most commonly used method for grouping terms into phrases is enclosing the terms inside quotation marks. Let's use Google as our search system.

Example: If you open Google and type song of dermot and the earl in the search box, the results returned will be all web pages that contain each of those words, regardless of their proximity to one another (48,200 - on October 16, 2007). If the phrase is enclosed within quotation marks - "song of dermot and the earl" - the query searches for that particular phrase, which will return significantly fewer (but more relevant) results (586 - on October 16, 2007).

Term Grouping

Parentheses give you control! Parentheses allow you to group similar terms together and to tell the search software in what order it should perform the search. Typical searches are performed from left to right, but, just like in algebra (no, please don't say algebra!), parentheses give you control over the order of operations.

Example: shows AND cats OR dogs will return all of the records that mention both "shows and cats" and EVERY record that mentions dogs. However, shows AND (cats OR dogs) returns the records that mention both "shows and cats" AND "shows and dogs."

Adding Complexity

Okay…we're getting it, right? We should use parentheses and quotation marks…Let's put it together now. Formulating complex search queries will get you the results YOU need:

For instance, (Irish OR Ireland OR Hibernia OR Gaelic) AND (medieval OR medieaval OR "middle age" OR "middle ages") AND (food OR cuisine OR sustenance OR subsistence OR meal OR meals) is a much better search query than irish medieval food

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Wildcard and Truncation

Do you want to search for both the singular and the plural of a particular word?

(yes, you do! you should always be looking for both, unless you have a good reason not to).

Is the plural of your search term an abnormal spelling (e.g., woman/women)?

Are there various spellings of your search word (e.g., organize/organise)?

If any of the above questions describe your need, you just might find the ? or the * to be your friend. Databases use different methods and symbols for truncation and wildcards. The most frequently used system (and the system used by all of the EBSCOhost databases) is as follows:

The wildcard is represented by a question mark (?). To use the wildcard, enter your search terms and replace each unknown character with a ?. EBSCOhost finds all citations of that word with the ? replaced by a letter.

For example, type ne?t to find all citations containing neat, nest or next. EBSCOhost does not find net because the wildcard replaces a single character.

Truncation is represented by an asterisk (*). To use truncation, enter the root of a search term and replace the ending with an *. EBSCOhost finds all forms of that
word.

For example, type comput* to find the words computer or computing.²

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Proximity Searching (Under Construction)

A technique that can be of great assistance when keyword searching (especially in full-text databases) is searching for terms within a defined number of words from one another.

Why is this useful?

Well, when the search Gaelic AND Irish is performed, the search system is looking for any record that contains both of those terms regardless of how close to one another they are. For instance, Gaelic could be the first word in the abstract and Irish could be the last. On the other hand, "Gaelic Irish" would only return records that contain the two words together, in that order, as a phrase.

Enter Proximity Searching

For many databases, the letters N and W are used to perform proximity searches.³

More to Come!

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Comments

Footnotes

1. It is highly suggested that you refrain from using NOT, unless absolutely necessary, for fear of excluding relevant results that simply happen to contain the NOTted term.

2. "Basic Search" in EBSCO Help. http://support.ebsco.com/help/?int=ehost&lang=en&feature_id=none&TOC_ID=Always&SI=0&BU=0&GU=1&PS=0&dbs=

3. It is always useful to check each database's help section to determine the particular symbols, words, or letters used to perform any of the research tools on this page. Eventually, a condensed version of the help section for all the major databases will be put on SHULib.