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Tutorials: Overview

Searching Databases

Searching Databases

The amount of information returned from a search on your subject or topic can be overwhelming. There are a number of skills and techniques that can be used that will help you find quality academic information. Use the links above to learn more about each step in the search process. 

 

First Steps:

1.    Define your topic. What question are you trying to answer?
2.    Choose keywords for your topic. Think of synonyms, abbreviations, and alternative spellings.
3.    Choose a database you think will be helpful--the suggestions in this research guide or the A-Z Database list. 
4.    Combine your keywords using Boolean operators - this gives your search some structure.
5.    Refine your search results using publication date, availability, or subject options.
6.    Reflect on the results you find, make changes based on those results, and try again.

 

Choosing Keywords

  • Begin with only 2-3 essential terms and avoid long phrases.
  • If your first term doesn’t work, try a synonym. 
  • You may have to try several related search terms to find the types of resources you're looking for. 

Choosing Databases
Look for a research guide for your class--it may have helpful starting suggestions. 
If not, use the Library Databases A-Z page to locate a database--use the dropdown to narrow by subject. 


Want more results? Use the search bar on the library homepage and click “Articles” to get results from every database at once. 

Boolean Operators

Boolean Operators are terms you can use to narrow or broaden your search in a database or a library catalog.
The three basic operators are: AND, OR, and NOT. 

Use AND in a search to: 

  • narrow your results
  • tell the database that ALL search terms must be present in the resulting records

For example: racism AND elections AND United States

The orange triangle in the middle of the Venn diagram represents the results set for this search. 

 

 

 Use OR in a search to: 

  • connect two or more similar concepts (synonyms)
  • broaden your results, telling the database that ANY of your search terms can be present in the resulting records. 

Example: feminism OR gender inequality OR women's rights

All three circles represent the result set for this search. It is a big set because any of those words are valid using the OR operator. 


 

 Use NOT in a search to: 

  • Narrow your results
  • Exclude specific words or concepts from your search results

Example: participation AND democracy NOT United States

This tells the database to pull up results about participation and democracy but to exclide any articles that are about participation and democracy specifically in the United States. 

Refine Your Results
  • Add a date range: refine your results to items published within that timeframe.
  • Limit to “peer-reviewed journals”: you will only see items that have been through a peer review or editorial review process.
  • Limit to “full text”: you will only see results if you can read the entire text right away (no interlibrary loan or citation-only results will appear). 

Suggested Databases

This list is only a starting point--as a member of the Saint Paul College Community, you have access to over 100 databases through the library. You can see them all, and search by subject, here. 

Search Tips

Searching in databases can return hundreds or even thousands of results, but there are simple ways to refine your search in order to find exactly what you're looking for. Using the following terms can help you be more specific. 

TERM RESULT
AND       Use AND to narrow your search. For example, searching eviction AND minnesota will find resources with both terms, helpfing you to find more specific results. You can keep adding terms with AND: eviction AND minnesota AND pandemic AND landlord
OR                 Use OR to broaden your search. OR is particularly helpful if your term has a frequently used synonym. For example, you can search landlord OR property manager to find articles that contain either term. 
NOT Use NOT to exclude a word or phrase from your search. For example, using eviction NOT COVID will bring back results for eviction but will exclude COVID-related articles. 
* Truncation allows you to search alternative word endings. For example, evict* will search evict, evicted, and eviction all at the same time. 
? A wildcard replaces one character in a word. Wom?n will search women and woman. 
# # can accommodate spellings where a character may or may not be present. For example, colo#r will search color and colour. 

Suggested Phrases

The following keyword searches may be helpful as a starting place for your research:
[your topic] AND psychological aspects
[your topic] AND political aspects
[your topic] AND religious aspects
[your topic] AND personal narratives
[your topic] AND public opinion
[your topic] AND (laws or regulations)
[your topic] AND statistical data
[your topic] AND social policy
[your topic] AND interviews
[your topic] AND crimes against
[your topic] AND health aspects
Phrase list compiled by Kathy Herrlich, Research & Instruction Services, Northeastern University