Search Terms

Identify the main concepts of your research topic.

• Example:
  • What are the variables affecting sustainable water systems?

Think of synonyms for each concept.

• Example:
  • sustainable = sustainability
  • water = hydro

Boolean Operators

AND

To find articles which contain all of your concepts:

• Combine them with AND
• Using AND narrows your search
• The more words you combine with AND, the less results you will retrieve
• Example:
  • sustainability AND water

OR

To find articles which contain any of your keywords:

• Combine them with OR
• Using OR expands your search
• The more words you combine with OR, the more results you will retrieve
• Example:
  • (water OR hydro) AND sustainability

Phrase Searching

To find an exact phrase use quotation marks.

• Example:
  • "sustainable energy"

Truncation

Truncation, also called stemming, is a technique that broadens your search to include various word endings.

• Both the singular and plural forms of a word
• Words that begin with the same word stem
• Truncation symbols vary by database; common symbols include: *, ?, #, $
• Example:
  • sustainab* = sustainable, sustainability

Filters

• Controlled vocabulary/Subject heading
• Date
• Document type