LibGuides: Library 101: Searching 101

Selecting and Using Keywords

Keywords (or search terms) are the words you type into a search box to search for information on your topic. The words you use to describe your topic may be different from the words used in the JETfind and library databases. For example, another way to describe children might be adolescents.

CREDO Reference This link opens in a new window
CREDO has topic pages, which give background information, and a mind map tool that connects related topics. This can be helpful in brainstorming keywords.
Gale Research Complete This link opens in a new window
Gale databases have a Topic that can assist with finding new topics or keywords.

"Quotation Marks"

Quotation marks search for an exact phrase. For example, if you search with quotations, "medical error," your search finds results only with that exact phrase. A search for the phrase without quotation marks retrieves results that may include those two words anywhere in the document, even if they are not ordered in the way you searched for them.

Example JETfind searches linked below. While using the same keywords, these are 3 different searches with a different amount of articles in the search results due to the placement of the quotation marks. The filters remain the same for all three searches: last 10 years and peer-reviewed articles.

To AND OR or NOT?

Boolean operators are named for English mathematician George Boole (1815 - 1864). Boolean operators are used to connect and define the relationship between the words in your search.

The three operators most commonly used are AND, OR, and NOT.

Operator	Definiton	Function	Example
AND	All keywords listed must be in the citation, abstract, or article	LIMITS	nursing AND vaccine = both words present.
OR	Just one of the keywords needs to be in the citation, abstract, or article.	EXPANDS	dog OR canine = either the word dog or the word canine is present.
NOT	The word following the NOT will be excluded.	EXCLUDES	bee NOT spelling = insects but not the competitions

Keep in mind the operators AND / OR are completely opposite to how we use them in everyday language:

AND normally suggests more (e.g. I can have cake AND ice cream). But in databases, AND is a limiter because this instructs the database to return only articles that contain BOTH words.

OR normally means choosing one option over another (e.g. I can register as a democrat or a republican). The use of OR can greatly expand results because the database will return articles that contain ANY of the keywords.

There are symbols and punctuation that help further refine results:

Putting keywords in quotes will tell the database to search for a phrase, this means the words will either be next to each other or within close proximity.
- Example: "marketing ethics" will look for these words in this order. If the quotes were not there, the database would treat these words as an AND, and look for articles that contain both of the words marketing and ethics anywhere in the article.
- For this reason, phrase searching is a great way to NARROW results if you are searching for a concept.
Putting an asterisk (*) behind the root of the word will return all versions of that word.
- Example: global* will return results that contain the words: global, globally, globalization, globalize etc.
- For this reason, the use of the * (also known as truncation or proximity operator) is a great way to EXPAND results.

These operators work in many commercial search engines, websites and databases.

You usually have to enter the operators in CAPS for them to be recognized
Sometimes, databases and search engines (e.g. Google) have created a form for you to search using Boolean operators without having to type them in. This can usually be found in the Advanced Search page of the website.