Tips

for Searching Library Databases

Access library databases at http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/databases/. 1. Ask yourself what words must appear in the title, abstract, or subject headings of a database record in order for the article it describes to be relevant. Dont include unnecessary concepts. 2. If you need to broaden your search in order to retrieve more records, try to think of appropriate synonyms or alternate terms for each word, e.g. teens or adolescents. Remember that a variety of words and phrases could be used to describe the same concept. 3. Consider possible hierarchical relationships within a particular concept. You may wish to expand your search by using broader terms, e.g., search for morality in addition to moral dilemmas. You may also wish to narrow your search, e.g., if you are only interested in a particular species or geographic region. 4. Use the subject headings for the index you are searching. These controlled vocabulary terms bring together similar ideas under one standardized word or phrase and can help you to retrieve all records related to your topic. 5. Examine each keyword to see if it should be truncated with a truncation symbol (e.g., *) to retrieve all variant forms after its root form. This is especially true for single and plural variants of a word. For example, legal* will retrieve legal, legalize, and legalization. (Beware: overuse of truncation can easily lead to too many irrelevant results.) 6. Remember that the more search terms you use for a concept, the broader your search will be. Dont use too many synonyms unless you are not finding everything you need using the most important keywords. Sample Search Strategy Topic: personal characteristics that influence how people respond when faced with moral dilemmas Concept 1 Concept 2 personal characteristics moral dilemmas AND OR OR personality traits morality Within a concept, connect alternate words and phrases with the OR operator. OR broadens a search by specifying that any of the listed words can appear in the article. Connect different concepts with the AND operator to narrow a search. Questions? Email me! Jennifer Garrett jennifer_garrett@ncsu.edu