Adler University Library: Advanced Search Techniques: STEP 4: Find &amp; Evaluate Citations

Advanced database searching

At this point, you might need more refinement in your search techniques. Review the guides below for better search strategies.

Keywords	Subject Headings
Natural language - user generated	Controlled vocabulary used to describe a subject
Could appear only once - anywhere in abstract or title	Database applies subject headings to each resource, based on topic/subject of resource (adds specificity to your search)
No related terms are found, but homonyms might be (words spelled the same, but with different meanings)	Exist in a thesaurus, so helps you find related terms, weed out homonyms
Like using Ctrl+F in a document	All variations (spellings) are covered
Useful when: topic is very new, or looking for specific person/organization	Useful when: topic has established academic research on it, and you want highly relevant results

Spelling & word variations (these work in most databases)

Truncation Use * at the end of the word for variations on endings
- Educt* (retrieves educate, educator, educated, educational)
Question mark Use ? in the middle of a word for variable spellings
- Colo*r (retrieves color & colour)

Group a phrase together in precise order

Use quotes “ “ to take a phrase together, rather than each word separately
- “industrial and organizational psychology”

Proximity searching - find words near each other