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KEYWORDS
Break down your topic into 3 or 4 keywords.
For example: “Do children learn better if they eat breakfast?”
1. Identify the keywords
Children
2. Think of synonyms or broader/narrower terms for these words
(N.B. Consider: Subject-specific terminology; technical terms, relevant names (key thinkers, writers, experts), acronyms and abbreviations, spelling and terminology variations (e.g. UK and US), changes in terminology over time)
TRUNCATION
Truncation symbol = *
Allows searching for any words starting with that word stem
e.g. employ* would find employ, employee, employer, employment, employable etc.
WILDCARDS
Wildcard symbols = ? or $
Allows searching for words with variant spellings
e.g. model$ing will find modeling & modelling
e.g. optimi?ation will find optimisation & optimization
PHRASES
Many databases allow you to search for exact phrases by enclosing keywords in speech marks (quotation marks)
e.g. “corporate governance”
Use these tips and techniques to make your searches more effective