Step 3: Search Tips and Techniques

Search Strategy

After making the concept map, you can use it to combine the concluded keywords to use in the Search Strategy, which is defined by (ODLIS) dictionary as "keywords that can be combined using Boolean operators to form one or more queries expressed in syntax acceptable to the catalogues, bibliographic databases, and search engines most likely to contain information on the subject." by using:

  1. Boolean operators.
  2. Search modifiers.

Boolean Operators

  1. The AND operator:
    • Its usage for getting more narrow results includes two terms in the same results' content.
    • Example: Economics AND Egypt.
    • In the last example, the result of the search operation will include the searched keywords together "Economics" and "Egypt"; while will exclude the results that contain only one of the searched keywords "Economics" only; or "Egypt" only.
  2. The OR operator:
    • This operator is used almost in case of needing more wide results; that could include two terms together shown in results, especially on keywords known with more than one synonym.
    • Example: Economics in "Egypt OR Misr"
    • In the example above, search results will include the results mentioned Economics with the chosen keywords, one of them without the other, or both together in the same results, Economics in Egypt, Economics in Misr, and also; Economics in Egypt and Misr in the same result. 
  3. The NOT operator:
    • And that operator is used for having more narrow results containing only one of two terms shown without the other in the results' content.
    • Example: Economics NOT Egypt.
    • In this example, the results will include only the searched keyword "Economics" while excluding the keyword Egypt.

Search Modifiers

  1. Phrase Search:
    • Used in case of need results of the typed phrase, which comes, in the same way of sentence typed into the search engine, especially Compounded terms.
    • Example: "Developing countries"
    • In the above example, the results will include (Developing countries) like how it did type while excluding any other search results that may contain (Developing) only or (Countries) only.
  2. Truncations:
    • Truncation is to get the results that contain the Derivatives of the searched term.
    • Example: Econom*
    • The search results for the previous example include Economics, Econometrics, Econometrics, and Economists.
  3. Wildcard:
    • The wildcard uses in case of terms vary in US and UK spellings; whatever, only replace the varied letter/s with any symbol ( ? or # or $ or !)
    • Example: "Organi!ation"
    • The results will include (Organisation) and (Organization).

Tips & Tricks

Figure 4: Search Techniques
You can learn more about How to use the above search techniques?; in databases when you visit the link next. EBSCO Discovery Service