Search Concepts and Strategies

Search Concepts for All Electronic Databases

The following concepts are common to most computer databases of bibliographic information:

• The full citation containing all the information about a title is called a "record".
• Each element of information in the record (author, title, subject) is called a "field".
• A controlled vocabulary (referred to as "subject" or "descriptor" or "identifier") often exists for precise subject access. Different databases will have different controlled vocabularies - look for an index or thesaurus to get a subject heading.
• Command keys (function keys, keypad [KP] keys, or buttons) appear on each screen. One of the commands is a "HELP" key or button which should give more information about the database.
• A truncation symbol is a mark that you put at the end of a word in order to catch all variant endings of that word when searching a database. (For example, searching psych* would retrieve records with the term psych, psychiatry, psyshology, psychiatric, psychiatrics, psychoanalytic, etc.) Words can often be truncated using an "*", or a "?", or a "#", or sometimes it happens automatically.

Understanding Boolean Logic or Operators (AND / OR / NOT)

For Boolean operators, OR gets more while AND or NOT gets less. When searching an electronic resource, whatever terms you use must be contained in the record to be retrieved by the database. Therefore, using OR between terms in a search broadens the scope. For example, searching for : native OR indigenous OR tribal OR aboriginal OR 'first peoples' would find records that used any one of those terms. Use OR to link concepts that are equally useful for your search, not just synonyms.

Tip: you can also use truncation instead of OR for related terms. For example, searching for: "heal*" is the same as searching for: "heal OR health OR healer OR healers OR healing OR healthy." Just be careful not to truncate too early - "cat*" retrieves "cat OR cats" but also "catamaran," "catalog" and "catastrophe".

When using AND between terms, the search is narrowed because both terms must appear for a record to be retrieved. For example, a search for yoga AND migraine will retrieve only those records which include both the words yoga and migraine.

You can use both AND and OR in the same search line -- but be sure to put the OR terms inside parentheses, like: "yoga AND (headache* OR migraine)."

NOT between terms narrows the search by eliminating the records that contain the term following NOT. If you want to do a title search for violence, but not domestic violence, you would phrase the search as "violence NOT domestic." The search engine collects all the records that contain the word violence, within that set rejects all those that also contained the word domestic, and only shows you the remainder. (Some resources such as University of California's MELVYL Catalog may require you to use the phrase AND NOT rather than just NOT between terms.)

Basic Search Strategies

If you are unfamiliar with the resource you are using, take the time to view its Help pages or consult the guides created by the CIIS Library (or both!), to become familiar with the structure (fields) and contents.

Once you are familiar with the resource and are ready to search, here are a couple search strategies:

1. If you already know an author, article, or book that covers the subject you are interested in:
   • Start your search by locating the record for that author, article or book;
   • display the record in full; and
   • note the subject headings and or descriptors/identifiers assigned to that record.
   • Try another search using those same subject headings/descriptors to retrieve similar records.
2. If you have a general topic that you want to search:
   • Enter your terms in a general or keyword search.
   • Read the abstracts and/or look at the full records for items that look useful.
   • Make note of the subject headings / descriptors assigned to those records; also see if there are other, better, words or phrases to use in your search.
   • Try another search using those same subject headings/descriptors or keywords to retrieve similar records.

Too many records? Look at what the useful records all have in common. Are there additional words or terms that narrow down your search, make it more precise? If so, searching using these terms, connecting them with AND.

Not enough useful records? Think of other, similar words that could be used to describe your concept. If they are variations on the same word root (ex., narration, narrative, narrator) then use truncation; otherwise, connect them with OR.