Counseling Research Guide - College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences

Unlike Google, library databases work best when you enter keywords or search strings instead of phrases or questions.

Keywords represent the main ideas and concepts in your research topic. Things to remember:

• Each database can categorize the main concepts of your research  under a different subject heading.
• It is important to brainstorm different words authors may use for your topic.
• Having alternate search options can keep you from getting stuck when doing reseach.

There are a few types of keywords that you can work with, depending on your topic.

• Narrow
• Broader
• Related
• Similar

Having a range of keywords can help you find many different types of information. 

How do I use keywords?

You can put keywords together to search for information in library databases. 

Search Order

Databases follow the commands you type in, so be aware of the order of your keywords and Boolean operators: 

• Databases usually recognize AND as the primary operator, and will connect concepts with AND together first.
• If you use a combination of AND and OR operators in a search, enclose the words connected by OR together in parentheses.
• Examples:
  • ethics AND (cloning OR reproductive techniques)
  • (ethics OR morals) AND (bioengineering OR cloning)

​Truncation

Truncation is a technique that broadens your search to include various word endings and spellings.

• To use truncation, enter the root of a word and put the truncation symbol at the end.
• The database will return results that include any ending of that root word.
• Examples: 
  • child* = child, children, childhood
  • genetic* = genetic, genetics, genetically
• Truncation symbols may vary by database; common symbols include: * and ?

Wildcards

Similar to truncation, wildcards substitute a symbol for one letter of a word.

• This is useful if a word is spelled in different ways, but still has the same meaning.
• Examples: 
  • wom!n = woman, women
  • gr?y = gray, grey​

Search History

In many databases you can view your search history. This is important because it can keep you from duplicating an unsuccessful search, allow you to combine searches, and track your successful search attempts.

You can also set up alerts so the database will alert you to new articles/resources that match one of your searches.

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