Database searching
- 1. EFFECTIVELY SEARCHING LIBRARY DATABASES
- 2. HOW TO DO KEYWORD SEARCHESWhen using any type of search engine, do not type whole sentences, questions, etc. into search boxes. INSTEAD: DETERMINE WHAT YOUR ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS ARE
- 3. DETERMINING ESSENTIAL CONCEPTSEssential concepts Usually verbs or nounsThey describe your topicTopic : How can social networking sites help people find jobs?What are the ESSENTIAL CONCEPTSin this topic?????? (social networking and jobs)
- 4. AND A command you give to the database
- 5. It is put between the essential concepts in the search
- 6. Ex: social networking AND jobs
- 7. It tells the database to only find articles which include each of these termsBroadening your searchingJust using the search string:Social networking and jobsMay not be that effective because you haven’t included alternative terms (synonyms in your search)You can improve your search by adding these..
- 8. ORAnother command you give to the databaseIt is put between synonyms EX: job OR employmentIt tells the database to look for articles in which either of the words appear
- 9. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHERFormula for search statement:(all synonyms for key concept 1 with OR in between each) AND (all synonyms for key concept 2 with OR in between each)
- 10. EXAMPLE SEARCH STATEMENTTo search most effectively for your topic you might try:(social networking OR Facebook) AND (jobs OR employment)NOTE: synonyms are always connected with OR and placed in parenthesis