Academic databases require different search techniques than Google.
Boolean Operators
- AND: Connects keywords (e.g., climate AND change). Narrows results.
- OR: Connects synonyms (e.g., teenagers OR adolescents). Broadens results.
- NOT: Excludes terms (e.g., virus NOT computer). Refines results.
Other Techniques
- Phrase Searching: Use quotation marks to keep words together (e.g., "social media").
- Truncation: Use an asterisk to find variations of a word (e.g., educat* finds educate, education, educational).
- Field Searching: Limit search to specific fields like Title, Author, or Subject Terms.