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3. Research

e. Creating a Search Query

Most databases don't understand the natural language we speak and need help understanding what we're looking for. For this, they require a special set of conventions, including phrases, logical (Boolean) operators, truncation, wildcards and nesting:

Quotation marks Around exact phrases (e.g. "basset hound club of America")
Logical or Boolean operators Connecting words that narrow or broaden a search to include only what you need. Examples: OR, AND, NOT
Wildcards and truncation symbols  (* # ? !) child* for child, children, childhood, childish, etc.
Nesting Placing terms in parentheses to indicate separate units. (Like an equation, (A or B) not C

Databases and search engines apply these rules differently. For this reason, check the HELP or ADVANCED SEARCH pages for specifics on how to search effectively.

Below, click on the words in the Search Strategy column to view individual graphic representations of each strategy, or click the button bellow for a full page of all strategies.

Function

Search Strategy
Narrowing AND
  NOT
Broadening OR
  Wildcard
Combining Nesting

Search Strategy

 

 

 


 

 

a. Overview

b. Databases

c. Records

d. Field Searching

e. Search Query

 

 

 

  

Self-Test | 1 Basics | 2 Topics | 3 Research | 4 Locate | 5 Results | 6 Ethics 

 

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Information Literacy Tutorial

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