What is searched?
Usually, individual words from the article title, author's name, subject terms (also known as descriptors) and abstract (a summary of the paper).  These 'fields' may be searched individually or in a 'keyword' search across more than one field.
The system may search for a whole word or words beginning with specified letters and ending with a 'truncation' symbol, commonly   *  #  ?  +  $

eg- technolog*  will find   technological, technologies, technology

How does the system  combine terms?
Individual "terms" are found and compared with other terms you have specified, according to the "commands" AND,  OR,  NOT, known as Boolean operators.

Before you start searching you need to be aware of how a particular database will treat words typed in without a specified Boolean operator.  Are adjacent words treated as a phrase or near each other in any order, or does the system assume an operator, usually  AND  or  OR,  between search terms?   The results will be very different!

Try a quick test by typing the same words in different configurations,
eg - if  environmental  impact  gives

65 records a small number of records,
     the system finds both words as a phrase in a record

253 records a larger number of records,
     the system assumes the AND operator, that is each word somewhere in the record.

11076 records a large number of records,
     the system assumes the OR operator, that is either word somewhere in a record

what terms, words or phrases, do you use to describe the issues?  Write these down.

what other terms might be used for those issues? Write these under the first term you thought of for the concept, in columns.

For example -

 

use handbooks or encyclopaedias for background information and terminology

look at words in the title and/or abstract of articles in the reading lists for your subject

look at words in the Library Catalogue records, in particular from Subject headings, Contents, and Notes

Write out your search terms and link the search terms with Boolean operators

AND (where both terms are wanted),

OR (where either term is wanted)  Remember to use brackets to enclose terms separated by the OR operator;

use truncation to collect plurals and other endings of a term;

engine*  AND  (solar  OR  wind)

Dealing with the Results
The results of your initial search may be disappointing but don't give up!
Look at some of the records in your result to get ideas for other words that you could use to make your search strategy more relevant.  In particular, look for words which have a similar meaning to your concept, eg.

 architectur*  AND  (fiction  OR  literature  OR  narrat*)  AND  represent*

Look for other ways to make your search strategy better describe your topic.

Recent articles only

- look for a way to restrict the search result to a date.  Many databases provide for specifying a date range.

Search terms closer together

- restrict the search to a "field" such as title, subject headings (descriptors) or abstract, this will make the search more specific.
- can you search for terms next to each other, possibly using operators such as ADJ  or NEAR, or inverted commas around terms to indicate a phrase
 

Combine the results of individual searches

- many databases allow set numbers to be combined instead of re-typing the search strategy each time

Which database?
Start with a database in the category for your topic, see the suggested databases for Science & Technology Commercialisation
Alternatively,

go to the list of databases for   Business   or   Marketing

look at the large list of databases for engineering and related subjects,

go to the list of databases for each Department,    | Chemical Engineering | Civil & Environmental Engineering | Electrical & Electronic Engineering | Mechanical Engineering | Petroleum Engineering & Management,

go to the Library's Home page, under Guides, select Resources for subjects and choose from the recommended databases for other disciplines such as

business  |  law  | management  |  philosophy  |  psychology  |