Skip to Main Content
Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong Baptist University Library
 

Database Search Help: Useful Search Tips

Useful tips for searching databases more effectively

Identify Keyword

  Identify Keywords 

Step 1 :  Break down your topic into concepts/parts.

Step 2 :  Extract important noun and/or noun phrases from your topic.​

Step 3 :  Remove noise words such as "does", "a", "the", "and", "in", & "on" as they are not specific to the topic.

In context of this topic, relationship words such as "increase" and "risk" can be considered as too generic for use as keywords. 

For the above topic we have narrowed down to just two major keywords/keyphrases: fast food and obesity

Use Synonyms

  Use Synonyms

Moreover, think of other ways to express the ideas in your keywords. This helps locate materials in the database that are relevant to your topic but use different terms to express key concepts. 

Tips:  

  • Trying different combinations of search terms will help ensure you find a comprehensive range of materials on a particular topic. 

Example:  

fast food --> junk food, McDonald's...

obesity --> overweight... 

air pollution --> smog...

health --> well-being... 

 

Phrase Searching

  Phrase Searching hkbusearchtip

Use Quotation marks (“   ”) 

When put in quotation marks, all the words in the exact phrase will appear together in the results. This gets rid of articles that contain the search words that you use but are not relevant to your topic. It is particularly useful when you need to narrow down a large set of results.    

Tips: 

  • There is no need to place quotation marks (“   ”) around just one word. This search tip only applies to phrases. 

 

Boolean Operators

 Boolean Operators  hkbusearchtip

Boolean operators are used for more complex searches. They allow you to combine multiple words and concepts in order to build up your search. The option to use boolean operators is usually provided in a database's Advanced Search page, as shown below: 

 


There are three types of Boolean operators  :  AND, OR,There NOT  

AND

Use AND to find records containing all of the words in your search. It narrows your search by telling the database that all search terms must be present in the records.  For example, when searching "adolescents AND children", your search will only retrieve records containing both of these words. Records containing only "adolescents" will not be retrieved. Similarly, records containing only "children" will not be retrieved. 

 OR 

 

Use OR to find records containing any of the words in your search. It broadens your search by telling the database that as long as one of the search terms is present, the records can be shown. For example, when searching "adolescents OR children", it will retrieve those records containing "adolescents" only, those containing "children" only, and those containing both "adolescents" and "children". 

NOT

 

Use NOT to find records that do not contain a specific word. It narrows your search by telling the database to exclude certain concept/word. This could be useful when certain concept is implied by your search terms, but does not related to your topic. For example, when searching "adolescents NOT children", it will retrieve those records that contain only "adolescents", and exclude those that contain only "children", or those that contain both "adolescents" and "children". 

Subject Headings

  Subject Headings

The use of subject headings (also known as a controlled vocabulary) is a good way to make your search more precise. 

For example, the article below was one of the articles that came up after searching the keyword "flipped classroom". As can be seen on this record, subject headings assigned to this article include "teaching methods" and "active learning". You can click on these subject headings directly to discover other similar articles

 

 

A lot of databases allow you to search and/or browse subject headings directly. They may be under "Thesaurus", "Topic Finder", or other similar terms.
Below is an example from ProQuest
:  

 

 

Truncation

 Truncation hkbusearchtip

A symbol can be used at the end of a root word to expand your search by including various word endings and spellings. Known as truncation, this technique allows you to retrieve results containing any form of the root word. A common symbol for truncation is the asterisk (*):  

 

Wildcards

 Wildcardshkbusearchtip

Similar to truncation, wildcards are used to substitute a symbol for a letter in a word, when there are spelling variations or unknown characters in your search terms.  

The most commonly-used wildcard symbols are the Question Mark (?) and the Dollar Sign symbol ($).

Note:  The wildcard character cannot be used to begin a word. 

Other Search Operators

 Other Search Operators

Proximity operators (or adjacency operators) allow you to search by phrase or with two or more words in relation to one another. 

Here are some common proximity operators :

Near (n)if it does not matter which word appears first.

Example:  

               smoking n3 adverse effects
               Meaning: Finds smoking within three words of adverse effects

With (w)if your terms must be in the same order in which they are entered.

Example: 

               physical w1 therapy 
               
Meaning: Finds records where the word physical is listed first, followed by the word therapy, and where no more than one word separates the two terms.