Online Searching Basics-
Online Searching is Like a Game
There are a few basic ideas to keep in mind that can help your searches be more successful.
- Pick the appropriate database - understand the scope and sources (content) of the database you have selected. Gutman Library has built many aids into the library homepage to help you pick the right database.
- Use the HELP feature - many databases have extensive information included in their HELP features that can greatly improve your searches and explain syntax errors you may be making.
- Know the syntax - understand how to "talk to the database". For instance, if you want to search the concept lyrics OR words in music, know if the database you are searching requires that phrases of three or more words be placed in quotation marks: lyrics OR "words in music".
- Transfer what you learn from using one database to another database - once you master the basic concepts of online searching and are familiar with the types of features that are usually present on database interfaces, you will easily be able to transfer your skills to other database systems that are new to you.
- Revise your searches - with practice, this will become second nature to you. You will automatically see how your search needs to be changed to provide better results. For example, maybe the date range you specified is too narrow for the database to find any articles on your topic, or maybe the words you are using are not specific enough to clearly define exactly what you are looking for.
- Be flexible and creative - mastering the semantics --or, the language of the database-- is half the battle. This is why online searching is like a game. You have to play with the words you use, the places in the articles you request those words to be, and perhaps even the specific magazine or journal in which you request the database to search for those words, in order to improve your search results. Also, your thinking needs to be flexible. For example, sometimes you can find information about your topic by way of a different topic, or by researching about the opposite of what you are trying to discover.
