LibGuides: Finding resources: Basic searching

Basic Searching

Searching for academic sources requires a little more planning than a Google search. Good planning will help you get better search results.

Getting started

Step 1

The first step when planning your search is to identify your keywords. These will be the words that represent the main ideas in your research question.

Example Question:
What impact does diet have on child obesity?
Keywords: diet child obesity

Keywords on wood blocks

Step 2

There may be alternative words (synonyms) to describe your keywords that could be included in your search. Identifying the words that different authors have used to describe a topic will ensure your search results are comprehensive and relevant.

Using the above keywords as examples:

diet nutrition, food

child infant, toddler

obesity obese, overweight

Your keywords might also be a phrase, e.g. eating habits or healthy eating. If you are entering a phrase, use "quotation marks" to ensure Locate and the databases find the words next to each other, e.g. " healthy eating".

You are now ready to start searching on Locate or a database.

Reviewing your results

Your initial search may return the results you need. If you wish to refine your search, filters can help you adjust your results to suit your needs. You can filter by:

Date
Material type, e.g. books, conference papers journal articles
peer reviewed materials (limiting your search to scholarly/academic publications)

Filters are typically found on the left hand side of the results list on Locate and the databases.

If your search doesn't find what you need

If your search doesn't find what you need there are steps you can take to improve it.

	You can:
Not enough results?	Reduce the number of keywords- too many can make your search too narrowly focused. Use another term that describes your keyword(s) more broadly.
Too many results?	Make your keyword(s) more specific. Add additional keywords. Include "phrase searching" as appropriate. Use 1 more of the filters.
Results not relevant?	Are you using the most appropriate keyword(s)? Try some alternative terms. Are you looking in the right place? The Subject Guides highlight relevant resources for that subject - check if another resource would be more suitable.

You could consider using connectors (AND, OR, NOT) to combine your keywords and create more effective searches. More information can be found on the Advanced Searching Guide.

Finding resources: Basic searching

Basic Searching

Getting started

Reviewing your results

If your search doesn't find what you need

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