Architecture

Create a Search Strategy

Combine your keywords/search terms with Boolean operators

• OR (synonyms: any of these words)
• AND (restrict: all these words)

Break your research topic into keywords.

• Many databases use specific terms to label documents, use these "official" database terms from the results that work for you
• Try the thesaurus or subject headings

Use parentheses with your terms and Boolean operators to create your search phrase

• exp. (cat OR kitten) AND (wild OR feral OR homeless)

• exp. publication year, document type, or Peer Reviewed

• Use this for an exact quote, phrase or order of the search term. exp. "latin america"

• The asterisk will be replaced by any applicable letters
• This is called truncation
• You can use asterisks as a shortcut for OR-ing words that have identical roots
• For example, paint* will search for paint, painting, painters, painterly, etc.

Step 1: Identify Your Topic Question

Sample Question:

How does light psychologically affect patients and workers in a healthcare environment?

Step 2: Identify the main keywords and/or themes

These become the main concepts of your search strategy

Step 3: Put Your Search Strategy Together

AND

• Narrows your search
• Results need both terms

OR

• Widens your search
• Include synonyms of your terms
• Include similar concepts

NOT

• Narrows your search by exclusion
• Exacts your terms

Truncation

• Captures alternative endings
• paint* will fetch painters, paintings, paint, etc.

Exact Quotes

• Exacts those terms in that order
• exp. "latin america"

Parens

• Organizes your search
• (cat OR kitt*) AND adoptions

Back to our Question

How does light psychologically affect patients and workers in a healthcare environment?

Step 4. Find Synonyms & Related Terms

Each database may have different features that will expedite your searches.

Look at links and/or icons for these functions:

• In some you can create a free account to save citations, searches, or research for later review.
• Use the built-in citation generators
• You can often e-mail citations or the full-text to yourself or a colleague.
• See if the database allows you to export a citation directly into RefWorks or another bibliographic management program.

Use Boolean operators (the words AND, OR, and NOT) to combine your search terms.

• Use AND when you want to include all of two or more terms together in the same search – use with independent concepts. AND will limit your results with each additional term.
• Use OR when you want to include any of two or more terms in a search – use with related concepts. OR will expand your results with each additional term.
• Use NOT when you want to exclude a term from your search. NOT will limit your results and is useful to avoid retrieving irrelevant items, but use NOT with caution! By excluding an item that briefly mentions the unwanted term, you might be excluding an otherwise useful resource.

You can use as many Boolean operators as you like in a search phrase, but include related concepts in parentheses to keep the phrase organized (this is called nesting). For example:

Dog OR Canine AND Bark NOT Tree: Messy

(Dog OR Canine) AND (Bark NOT Tree): Clear

For more information and practice exercises, see the Boolean searching guide by the Colorado State University Libraries.

From the University of Minnesota Libraries

Boolean Operators: Pirates vs. Ninjas

An introduction to the basics of Boolean operators. Created to support information literacy instruction at Lincoln Memorial University's Carnegie-Vincent Library.