Search is Strategic
The image below shows how to enter search terms, or keywords, into a database. Searching the free Web follows the same principles: keep it simple and strategic.
Tips:
- Type in just key words, not complex phrases
- Ex: "refugees in the Netherlands" = 25 articles, while refugees AND Netherlands = 1.452 relevant articles
- Connect your key words with AND to focus and narrow them
- Ex: refugees AND Netherlands AND policy = 125 relevant articles
- Connect your key words with OR to look for synonyms or related ideas
- Ex: analysis OR interpretation
- Put phrases in quotation marks to search those words together in that order
- Look for additional keywords and Subject Terms as you research! Databases are discovery tools - and part of what you can discover is concepts and terminology.
- Use database limiters to help you narrow by source type, date, document type, and more
- Check the box for scholarly peer reviewed journals to find the academic conversation
