Information Literacy & Critical Appraisal: Search Tips
Boolean Operators
Use Boolean Operators to Refine Your Search
Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) can be used to tell the search engine more specifically what you want it to do.
- They connect your search words together to either narrow or broaden your set of results.
- To connect various pieces of information to find exactly what you're looking for.
- Example
- Politics AND media
- 60s OR sixties
- Caribbean NOT Cuba
Using AND
Use AND in a search to:
- Narrow your results
- Example
- children AND poverty
The darker football shape in the middle of the Venn diagram represents the result set for this search. It is a small set because all search terms must be present in the result.
Using OR
Use OR in a search to:
- Broaden your search
- Connect two or more similar concepts (synonyms)
- Example
- law enforcement OR police
These two circles combine to represent the result set for this search. It is a big set because either can be present in the result.
Using NOT
Use NOT in a search to:
- Narrow your search
- Exclude words from your search
- Exclude search terms that may overwhelm a particular subject.
- Example
- Therapy NOT physical
Grouping
Group multiple words to search as a phrase
- Use quotation marks around a search phrase
- Without grouping, search results may look at two-word terms individually.
- Example
- "climate change"
- "gun control"
- "artificial intelligence"
Wildcard
Use wildcard Characters to Search on Multiple Similar Terms
Using the asterisk (*) character allows you to only type part of your search term to search for multiple terms.
- Include results you might not find otherwise.
- The database will return results that include any suffix that following a root word.
- Examples:
- electric* finds: Electricity, Electrical
- music* finds: Musical, Musician, Musicality
- teen* finds: Teen, Teens, Teenager, Teenagers
To use the wildcard, enter the root of a word and put the asterisk (*) at the end.
Fields
Records in library databases are comprised of fields containing specific pieces of bibliographic information.
Common fields include:
- author
- title
- journal title
- publisher
- date/year of publication
- subject/descriptor
A basic search will look for keywords in any of these fields. If your search results are too broad or inaccurate, using advanced search features can bring back better results.
Using Advanced Search Tools
- If your search results are too broad or inaccurate, using advanced search features can bring back better results.
- Example:
- Books written by Shakespeare (author field)
- Books written about Shakespeare (subject field)
- Use drop-down boxes or menus to search specific fields.
- Combine words and fields with boolean operators.
Working with Subject Headings
Subject headings describe the content of each item in a database.
- Searching by subject headings is the most precise way to search a database.
- Subject Headings are determined by the Library of Congress and aren't always obvious.
- This example shows the subject headings in an article about dinner theaters:
- You can often find subject headings in the body of an article or text.
- Library records list subject headings as a hyperlink that will take you to additional resources with that same subject.
Cited References/Bibliography
Bibliographies can help you find resources
Scholarly articles often have extensive bibliographies (also called reference lists or works cited). Bibliographies include references to articles, books, and other relevant information that was published before the article. Some databases provide links to these references for more background about a subject.
Be careful not to use too many references from one article or book - that just duplicates the work done by someone else.
Ask A Librarian
We a can help you learn how to use the library's online resources to get started with your research, locate books, or answer other general questions. Contact a librarian by
email: library@corning-cc.edu
phone: 607-962-9251
or schedule an appointment.