Before doing any research, it is important to know what words you will use to search for books and articles. Choosing the right words and search strategies can make all the difference, and it's important to remember that research is an exploratory process. It is rare to find exactly what you are looking for on the very first try. It is a process that usually requires multiple searches using multiple keywords or subject terms. It is very helpful to keep a list of these!
Keywords ("any field" or "select a field") will search titles, subjects, tables of contents, and descriptions.
To get ideas for additional search terms, try the following:
Helpful Searching Tips:
Boolean operators are words or symbols that are used in conjunction with words to refine searches. They can typically be used across most platforms, including specific databases like Academic Search Complete and Milne Search. Listed below are six common Boolean operators.
AND - narrows
Ex: triceratops and fossils (this narrows down our results to include only results that include BOTH triceratops and fossils)
NOT - excludes
Ex: Jurassic not park (this narrows down our results to include items about the Jurassic era but leaves out those that mention the word park)
OR - expands
Ex: triceratops or stegosaurus (this expands to search for multiple possible terms)
* - expands
Ex: dino* (Asterisks are called wildcards. They expand a search by finding words that start with the same letters. In the example here, the search results would include such words as dinosaur, dinosaurian, dinotopia, dinotherapy,dinomania, etc.)
" " - exact phrase
Ex: "Jurassic Park" (this pulls up results that are stated in the item exactly as written)