Research Librarian

Business & Economics
Library Skills Tutorial

Search Technique - generic

Why do I need this?

This guide focuses on generic search techniques relevant to all databases. 

Knowing how database software is processing your search words will help you achieve the best possible results. For example entering the Boolean AND or OR in a search box will usually be interpreted by the system as a search command (instruction).

Boolean searching

Boolean is a mathematical function used by search software to control the way in which keywords are processed by the search software. 

Most internet search engines automatically (default) search all words with the AND command between each word; but some commercial databases (e.g: Factiva) and web sites automatically perform a phrase (" ") search, unless your search includes an AND or OR. 

Watch this Boolean searching and more demonstration - 4 minutes

Keywords are specific words that define your topic. Choose just two words to begin searching and add a third word to reduce the result if the first result has too many records. Watch Help! I'm not sure how to interpret my essay question (7.21min)

Keywords are NOT words such as:
           evaluate, impact, discuss, influence, affect, improvement, changes, 
These words are redundant as discussions on any topic are assumed to include these aspects of the topic.  Including this type of word in your search will eliminate useful articles from your results.

AND Each additional word added to your search using the AND command reduces the number of records found.

The demonstration below uses the Business Source Complete database but the same search function applies to all online searching.

	Using the AND command (1 min video + sound / 1st in a series of 4)

OR + ( ...  )  always used in combination with brackets. Each word you add using the OR command increases the number of records found.

The demonstration below uses the Business Source Complete database.

	Using the OR command  (1 min video + sound / 2nd in a series of 4)

NOT command

Avoid using the NOT command as useful records will be eliminated.  The keyword you want may be present in important articles/reports that also contain the word you wish to eliminate.

Truncation

Most commercial databases have a symbol that tells the software to search for any additional characters to the right of a string of characters.  Most databases use the asterisk truncation symbol (*) for example:  econom*    will find:
economic; economics; economical; economically;  economy etc.

Each additional word  that you truncate using this symbol, will increase the number of records found.

The demonstration below uses the Business Source Complete database, note that the same search function applies to all online searching.

	Using the truncation symbol (1 min video + sound / 3rd in a series of 4)

Phrase

Phrase searching finds words only when they appear next to each other. NOTE: Phrase searching will significantly reduce results. 

Use quotation marks ("  ") for a phrase search - for example: "world bank" or "interest rate*".

NOTE: add a truncation symbol before the quotation mark if you want to find singular and plural etc.

Back to the top

Limits (advanced search techniques)

Field limits

Database software usually allows you to search for your words in a specific field such as the author, title, journal, subject etc. 

	Using limits  (3 mins. video + sound / 4th in a series of 4)

Subject headings :  (some databases call these: Descriptors,  Keywords etc)
Limiting keywords to the Subject Heading field is particularly useful as this reduces results to articles that are relevant to your research. 

Some databases (eg: Business Source Complete and the Library Catalogue) have controlled vocabulary (thesauri) Subject Headings.  Jargon changes over time and from one country to another.  By selecting search words from the "Subject Headings" field (also known as Descriptor or Keywords etc) will help you to find more records that if you only use recent terminology (jargon).

Modify or refine your first search by adding the Subject words (using the boolean search techniques) to perform a new search and limit these new words to the Subject field.   

See more information in the "Help" or "Tips" instructions for the database you are using. 

Other Limits
Most databases have a number of options to further limits results - such as: format (eg: journal article, newspaper, review); date; language.  Warning do not click the "fulltext" limit as the Library supplies many journals electronically (via the "check fulltext" button) which will not be displayed if you select the "fulltext only" option. 

+ + + + + + + +

Proximity Operators
Proximity operators are used to find your keywords closer together but not specifically as a phrase.   Generally the lower the number (ie closer the words are together) the lower the number of records found however, results in a a higher percentage of relevant records.

To see if, or how, your database handles this function check the online Help for the database you are using.  Many databases provide Near (n#) or Within (w#) operators combined with a number to specify how close together and the order to search the words.  These examples show the most common format for this search technique:

business n5  crime*
     finds business and crime up to five words apart in any order

business  w3 crime*
     finds business, followed by crime, up to three words apart, only in this order.

+ + + + + + + +

Wildcard symbol
A "wildcard" symbol is employed to specify variants for one or more letters in a word. The most common symbol for this function is the question mark (?). For further instructions check the online Help for the database you are using.

  eg: wom?n finds:  women or woman

Back to the top

Locating Full text

Always begin by searching the Library Catalogue
Every resource (print or online) for which the Library has paid a subscription can be found by searching the Catalogue.   

Journal article reference.  If you have a reference/citation, first search the catalogue for the journal title, to see if the library subscribes to either online, or print.

• Electronic journal click the link to e-resource in the catalogue record to see which volumes our subscription covers and then click the name of the supplier.   At the publishers site follow the publishers links- for example "archives", PDF etc. 
• Print. If the journal is only available to us in print scroll down to see the information in the : "Library has" field.

Articles in databases
Articles, books, reports etc found in databases may have fulltext links in the database where the reference/citation was found.  Where fulltext is not provided in a database, the library's Article Linker software usually enables you to .  Article Linker opens a new window which may have "Article" for you to click  and this link takes you to the Library's subscription at the publishers web site. 

Abbreviated Journal titles
Guessing the full title can waste time as you may not find the journal even though  the Library may have a subscription.  Please contact your Research Librarian   Bernadine Hardin or the Library Information Desk on  83035372  for further assistance with abbreviated titles.

• Abbreviated journal titles are usually standard abbreviations and may be found in print resources in the library, or on the internet by using the Abbreviations.com web site. 
• If the record has an ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) you may be able to search by that number. 
• The Ulrichs International Periodicals database may also help to identify /locate the correct journal.   

Document Delivery

Reminder: check the Catalogue before resorting to Document Delivery. 

For more detail see How to Request:

• a book that is on loan
• an item from Joint Store
• an item from another University of Adelaide campus
• an item we don't hold / Interlibrary request (ie: not found in our library Catalogue)

Updated: 07-May-2010  , Bernadine Hardin