Search Techniques

 

Because databases are highly structured, you can use special techniques to search them more effectively. When you want to find more than one word or idea, you need to enter your search in a way that the database will understand. This is valuable because you are able to pull the key concepts from a paragraph or thesis statement and find resources on your topic. We discussed keywords in Module 1 and now we will combine them with these search techniques. The next few slide will explain.

• Boolean Operators
• Truncation
• Phrase searching

Practice: A practice section is provided for each technique. The research database Academic Search Premier from EBSCOhost will be used for practice (click on the Next arrow once you are in the research database).

Open Academic Search Premier (select EBSCOhost Web >> Academic Search Premier)

• Leave this window open until the end of Module 2
• If you are off campus you will need your library id to access the database.
  • Library ID begins 21578.... (14 digits) and the password is your last name.