Constructing a Search Statement
Computers do not “think; they don’t understand the context for information you need, or the subtle nuances of human language and thought. Computers are literal — they process commands based on the keystrokes you make. In the same way, databases retrieve search results based on the words that you enter. Learning how to identify correct terms and phrases for your topic is essential for conducting successful searches.
Identifying Keywords
The first step is to identify terms that describe each of the main concepts for your topic. For the topic The Influence of Advertising on Students, the two main concepts would be: Advertising and Students
Using the topic Fashion Trends in the Western Countries, the most important concepts are: Fashion and Western.
• Narrow a topic that’s too general.
For example, a paper on the entire Civil Rights Movement would cover overwhelming amounts of information, while a study of the Civil Rights Movement Effects in Alabama would be manageable.
• Broaden your specific topic (place it in its broader context) if you find too few sources dealing with it.
While you may not find entire books about the Battle of Marathon, you would find information about that battle in many history books on Ancient Greece.
• Focus on one specific aspect or central concept of the subject that you want to address.
For example, aromatherapy might be a focus drawn from the larger subject of alternative medicine.
Remember to limit your search statement to essential words.
Few search tools attempt to make sense out of entire sentences entered as a search. Trim database searches down to essential words.
• A search can be complex and contain multiple terms, but it shouldn’t contain unnecessary words. Omit pronouns, articles, adverbs and conjunctions (common words such as of, an, the and so on).
• Be alert when using OR and AND as search terms in any database. These words most often serve a specific function as Boolean operators, and are used to combine search terms — for example, you might search for information about brothers AND sisters.
An effective basic keyword search statement for our previous sample topic (The Influence of Advertising on Students) would be:Advertising AND Students.
To search for Fashion Trends in the Western Countries, use:
Fashion AND Western.
Think of synonyms for search terms.
To identify terms for the main concepts of your topic, you often need to think creatively about synonyms, plurals and related words when conducting keyword searches. Using a sample topic The Negative Effects of Infrared Rays on Humans, the main concepts are Infrared Rays and Humans. In order to find as much information as possible about cows, it would be reasonable to:
• Try synonyms and plurals: Humans, Males, Females.
• Try narrower terms if you find too much information: Infrared Rays Effects.
Searching For Phrases Can Be Tricky
• In some databases and search tools (such as Google), AND is automatically implied between words. If your search results are surprisingly few, an implied AND may be breaking your phrase into individual search terms. You may need to re-submit your terms as a bound phrase search by using quotation marks to enclose the phrase.
For example, you would search for the phrases “Waxing Gibbous Moon” or “Hurricanes”
