Information Seeking: Search techniques

• Do I use a single or multiple search terms?
• How do I combine them?
• Do I wish to exclude a search term?
• Are there different spellings to the search terms?

Boolean operators

Use Boolean operators (OR, AND, NOT) to combine keywords. Most databases require that the operators are written in capital letters, so it's a good idea to write them so always. They also stand out better in your search queries.

OR

OR operator expands the search by using alternative, synonymous or similar terms.

AND

AND operator limits the results. It's useful when combining concepts from different subjects.

NOT

NOT operator limits the results. It excludes results that include a specified term. Use with caution, because the filtered results might contain relevant information about the topic you are interested in.

• replaces one or more letters at the end of a word
• usually * (asterisk) or ? (question mark)
• in some databases can be used in the beginning or middle of the word
• not used in all databases
• useful when searching for concepts that have different spellings
• e.g. conduct* = conduct, conducting, conduction, conductor, conductors; *aikovsk* = Tsaikovski, Chaikovsky

• use when a concept is described by two or more words; these include (but are not limited to) names and subject headings
• quotation marks or in some databases in drop-down menus as "phrase search" or "search as phrase"
• must be in the given order and exactly as written
• e.g. "University of the Arts", "choir singing"

If you want to include several operators into a search sentence, use brackets to separate them. In most databases a long search sentence can be written in advanced search without the need to use Boolean operators.

In most databases it is possible to limit or narrow the results by content type, publication date, language etc.

An example of limiting search results in Arsca: