Choosing your Search Terms

Think of the language that will be the most effective for your search and keep track of search terms that produce the best results. Ask yourself: 

• Will your topic be discussed in the news using scholarly terms or would other terminology be more effective?
• Has the terminology changed over time or based on location? 

Designing your Search Strategies

Some databases allow you to enter search terms on separate lines (e.g., enter a keyword the top line and researcher or activist's last name below, so as to articulate your search request)

Use Boolean Operators allow you to widen or narrow the search for your keywords and target your research topic:

Quotations marks (search for specific phrases or names or different spellings e.g., hyphens)

• "motion pictures", "Book Smart", "high school" 

• "social media" OR Instagram

• "graduating class" OR  "high school graduation" 

Asterisk * (widen your search results, in certain databases) 

• Teen* = teens, teenager's, teenagers

• Canad* = Canada, Canada's, Canadians, Canadian, Canadiana

AND (narrows your search)

• "high school"  AND teacher*  

• "School Daze"  AND "Spike Lee" AND "Review"

OR (widens your search) - US vs Canadian Spelling, synonyms, acronyms

• neighbourhood OR  neighborhood  

• COVID-19 OR  COVID OR "Corona Virus"

•  (snapchat OR "Instagram Stories" OR "Instagram Story"

• "high school"  AND  ("motion picture" OR  film OR movie OR cinem*)    

Boolean search operators can be used in Advanced Search box. Boolean operators allow you to combine search terms using the following commands:

• AND
• OR
• NOT
• NEAR
• ONEAR

Examples

For more information on using all the many features and functions of LibrarySearch, have a look at this guide on using the new system.