How-to
Guides

How to SEARCH ELECTRONIC RESOURCES -- Some Tips

These tips/techniques apply to most, but not all, databases.
Always use the HELP option for details and other techniques for the database you are using.

SEARCH STRATEGY:

TRUNCATION and WILDCARDS

*

Use * for unlimited truncation of a word root in most Internet search engines and library databases.

example:comput* = computation, compute, computerization, etc

Be careful not to truncate too soon. example: mar* = marriage, marital, marijuana, marsupial, etc

 
Wildcards

Use ? as a wildcard to substitute one character in several database systems.

examples:wom?n = women, woman; fib?? = fiber, fibre

Some databases may use # or !. Check the HELP options.

 

BOOLEAN OPERATORS

AND

Use AND between search words to narrow a search to include records with both terms included.

example: women and internet

 

OR

Use OR between search words to broaden a search to include records with either one, or the other, or both terms.

example: linguistics or language
 

NOT

Use NOT between search words to narrow a search by excluding a term. Use with caution!

example: Mexico not New Mexico  
 

( )

Use parentheses with more than one operator in a statement

example: (commercials or advertising) and language
 

PHRASES

" "

Most databases and search engines allow quotation marks to specify a phrase.

examples: "Maya Angelou", "stem cell research"
(Note: Beware of using stopwords (e.g., articles, pronouns, prepositions) in a phrase search.)

Some databases automatically assume a phrase if you type two words together.

 

N, W, ADJ

Many systems use proximity operators (N, W, ADJ) for more advanced searching. Use the system-specific HELP options to identify proximity operators.

 

LIMITERS

In most databases, records contain fields (e.g., author, title, subject, year, etc) that can be searched to limit your results. Also, pay attention to limiters such as fulltext, peer review, publication type, etc. for narrower results.

EDIT/Find (on This Page)

On a Web page with a lot of text (especially when viewing a full-text article), try clicking "EDIT/Find (on This Page)" from the top toolbar to find a keyword within the document.

SUMMARY CHART WITH SYSTEM COMPARISONS

System

Truncation

Wildcards

Boolean Operators

Phrases

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts

*

? (one character)

AND, OR, NOT

automatic phrase

EbscoHost

*

? (one character)

AND, OR, NOT

automatic phrase

FirstSearch

*
+ (limited to -s
or -es endings)

# (one character)
? (0-9 characters
within a word)

AND, OR, NOT

" "
N, W

Gale / General OneFile

*

? (one character)
! (one or 0 characters)

AND, OR, NOT

automatic phrase
N, W

Ovid

$

# (one character)
? (one or 0 characters)

AND, OR, NOT

automatic phrase
ADJ#

ProQuest

*

? (one character)

AND, OR, AND NOT

automatic phrase
W/#

Web of Science

*

? (one character)
$ (one or 0 characters)

AND, OR, NOT

automatic phrase

WilsonWeb

*

? (one character)

AND, OR, NOT

" "
<near/#>