|
Begin the tutorial by clicking the first link, or select any page to review.
- Prepare: Write a sentence describing your search topic, then analyze it to identify key concepts and any aspects (time period, geographic place, etc.) that will focus your search. Identify search words related to each concept.
- Decide: Choose between keyword or subject searching, if both are available in the database. Subject searching will generally produce more focused results. However you must map your concepts to the subject vocabulary used by the database.
- Construct: Build a keyword search statement (start simple). Select Boolean or mathematical operators to connect search terms, identify phrases, and organize complex search statements using parentheses. See this concept map for an overview.
- Limit: Screen your search results by some variable (language, publication date, etc.). You can limit your initial search statement (pre-limit), or post-limit after reviewing results (recommended approach).
- Refine: It's rare to get good results on the first try. If you get too many results, add new concepts or add limits your search. Too few results? Remove concepts that are not critical, remove any limits.
|
 |