Improving Keyword Searches

1. Improving  Keyword Searches  OR: How to Be as Smart as the Internet

2. Improving Keyword Searches • Since keyword is the type of search you'll be performing most of the time, here are some techniques that make this type of search the most efficient and effective: • The very first thing you need to do in a keyword search is identify the two or three most meaningful words that describe your research topic. • Examples: • Research topic: Did Tyrannosaurus Rex have feathers?
    Keywords: Tyrannosaurus Rex, feathers? • Research topic:  Is there evidence that deficiency of vitamin D relates to depression?
    Keywords: vitamin D, depression

3. Speak the right language… • When it comes to selecting your search words, avoidtyping in unnecessary terms such as "causes", "relationship", "pros and cons" etc.  

Remember that keyword searches do not care for prepositions such as: at, to, on, in, with, etc.  • Instead use the Boolean connectors (and, or, not) discussed in the next pages. • Use quotation marks " "  for search terms that are phrases. • Examples: • "acid rain” • "Martin Luther King, Jr."

4. Truncation or wildcard • Truncation is a technique that enables you to look for a word and any of its possible endings. • Using truncation is also called using a "wildcard" because it allows you to insert a symbol (usually an asterisk * , or ?) as a wild card at the end of a word. • For example, a search on the word adolescen*  would also search for • Adolescent • Adolescents • Adolescence

5. Boolean! Boolean logic, particularly the use of the Boolean operator AND, is the most important technique for limiting results in any database or search engine search. The principal Boolean operators are: And – to get fewer, more specific results Or – to get more results, utilizing synonyms Not –or- And Not – to get fewer results, excluding irrelevant information

7. A few important notes on Boolean operators: • Boolean logic is effectiveonly in Keyword searching. Remember!  Subject searches use specific subject headings/descriptors! • You should always use a parenthesis(   )around those items that you combine with OR.  • If you skip this step, the database will not know which terms you wish to combine with "OR" and will most likely retrieve lots of irrelevant results! • Example: (women OR females) AND sports

8. A few important notes on Boolean operators: • You may use as many of these Boolean operators as necessary in a single search statement.  Example: (women OR females) AND sports NOT basketball
 

9. Let's Practice! You are doing research on the cost of higher education.  What are some different searches you could try for the topic? 

10. "key" words in the search, including synonyms (that is, words with the same meaning) are: • higher education, colleges, universities • cost, tuition,  fee • the boolean connector "OR" will combine terms with similar meanings: • higher education or colleges or universities • cost or tuition or fee

11. need to use parenthesis, (     ), around the terms combined with the "OR”: • (higher education or colleges or universities ) • (cost or tuition or fee) • need to use the boolean connector "AND" to combine and require terms to appear in the results: • (higher education or colleges or universities) and (cost or tuition or fee)

12. need to use truncation, *, to get different word endings, such as both singular and plural: (higher education or college* or universit*) and (cost* or tuition or fee*) need to use quotations, "  ", for phrase searching: ("higher education" or college* or universit*) and (cost* or tuition or fee*)

13. So, the final result of a good search could be: ("higher education" or college* or universit*) and (cost* or tuition or fee*)   Or, more simply… higher education and cost* (college* or universit*) and cost*

14. Take the topics from your first two papers… What are some searches you could do for each of those topics that utilize advanced search techniques?