Communication Subject Guide — Searching for Information

Database Commands (Boolean Operators)

• OR finds citations with any of the terms (stress OR anxiety). OR is important because authors use all sorts of different words to describe the same thing. Also, databases only find the exact words you type. If you type anxiety, a database will not find anxieties or anxious.
• AND finds citations with all of the terms (stress AND students)
• NOT eliminates citations that use the terms (stress NOT alcohol)
• asterisk (*) includes suffixes (stress* will find stress, stressor, and stressors)
• quotation marks ensure adjacent words are searched as a phrase ("alcohol consumption" OR "drinking behavior")

Do not enter sentences or long phrases into databases. These confuse databases and you will not get accurate results

Most databases provide multiple text boxes. Enter one topic per box. 

Ex. Find citations about stress and college students that do not pertain to alcohol consumption

PubMed requires parentheses. Enter one topic per parentheses.

Ex. (stress* OR anxiety OR cortisol OR epinephrine) AND (college* OR universit*) AND (student* OR undergraduate*) NOT (alcohol OR "drinking behavior")

Use these thinking tools to help organize your search. The tools here will help make your thinking visible.

As always, if you're having trouble getting started, or not sure how to use one of these tools to organize your search, contact me.

Too Many Search Results ?

• Find better search terms or keywords. Think of terms that are more specific and modify your search.
• Add more search terms. Start with a smaller number of keywords and then add more terms to refine your search. 
• Use limiters. Limiters such as date and format will give you more targeted results. 
• Do not use OR. Using OR between terms will search for all instances of each term. 
• Notice the default search options. Databases often search in the title, author, abstract and subject fields. Be specific and search for the terms in just the title or subject field. 
• Narrow down your topic. Your topic may be too broad so think about a more focused aspect of the topic.
  For example, students --> college students --> freshmen 

Too Few Search Results ?

• Try a database on your topic. Search in a database that specializes in a certain subject because it covers the subject discipline in greater depth. Use Databases by Subject or consult a Research Guide created by a UConn subject librarian for help. 
• Broaden your topic. Did you start too narrow and specific? Is the topic too new? Think about broader search terms on the subject. 
• Change your search terms. Consider similar or related terms.
• Use fewer search terms. Start with a smaller number of keywords and add more as needed. 
• Use fewer limiters. Limiters such as date or format can cause you to have too few results. Remove one or more limits to expand your search to include more results.
• Check your spelling.  Unlike Google, research databases often do not suggest a correct spelling. 
• Use OR with synonyms. 
• Use wildcard (usually a question mark)  or truncation (an asterisk)  to include additional variations of your search terms. Consult the help section of the database for more specific information.

Adapted from DIY Library Project, Portland State University Library