To get the best results when searching online, it helps to know how to search effectively. You are probably familiar with using keywords to search. However, there are a variety of techniques you can apply to get better, more relevant search results.
Take a bit of time to think about your keywords, how they fit together, and figure out which search tips and tricks might help before you start searching.
You’ll also need to check the results you get to make sure they’re useful and reliable.
Before you start searching, spend some time defining your research topic. Ask yourself, what is it that you want to find out? What search terms or keywords will find this information?
Use whatever technique works best for you - e.g. words lists or mind maps etc. can help you think around your topic and identify all possible search concepts and terms.
Take a look at the short video to help you begin:
For more guidance, see the Search Techniques guide.
It is possible to use a number of different keywords in a single search, by using operators.
They can be used to broaden or narrow a search and to exclude unwanted concepts.
Watch the video to find out how to use these operators.
For more guidance, see the Search Techniques guide.
You can use search tips to improve your searching. By applying these techniques, you can increase or reduce the number of search results, making it easier to access relevant materials.
There are lots of tips and techniques on the Search tips guide.
Here are three top tips that can improve your searching:
Truncation is a technique that broadens your search to include various word endings and spellings.
To use truncation, enter the beginning or stem of a word and put the truncation symbol at the end.
The database will return results that include any ending of that root word.
The asterisk * symbol is most commonly used for truncation. However, check out the help screens as !, ?, or # may also be used.
For example:
entrepreneur* will find entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial etc.
child* will find child, children, childlike, childhood etc.
Use it with care to avoid finding too many alternatives.
Wildcards are similar to truncation but they are used to substitute for a single letter or no letter in a word.
They broaden your search by including variant word spellings.
The question mark symbol is most commonly used. However, check out the help screens as ! , *, or # may also be used.
For example:
wom?n will find woman and women
optimi?ation will find optimisation and optimization
model?ing will find modeling and modelling
Phrase searching is the most limiting technique as it is used to specify that your terms must appear next to each other, and in the order you specify.
Phrase searching is commonly achieved by surrounding your phrase with quotation marks.
Always check the Database Help screens, as some databases may use different symbols.
Phrase searching examples:
"World Trade Organization"
"influencer marketing"
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