Search Strategies
Before you start exploring the databases and resources in this section, brush up on your search strategies. Did you know that there are tips and tricks to searching beyond just typing in a word or two or a complete sentence? Depending on how you conduct your searches, you may be limiting yourself or making your research harder than it needs to be. Here are some helpful tips to make you a pro the next time you use a database.
Identify Keywords:
- Start with keywords, not complete sentences.
- Instead of typing "Where can I find book recommendations for teenagers?" Try searching "books" AND "teens" AND "recommendations" using keywords that are specific to your topic can be more helpful than a full sentence.
- When you are searching and your question is like the above example, you can also add an asterisk at the end of a word to expand on the other possible variations. For example, "teen*" "recommend*" expands the search to cover other words like teenagers, instead of just teen, or teens. This is the same with "recommend", it could then expand to recommendation/recommendations. This can provide you with many more results and will be less limiting.
- This also goes hand in hand with experimenting with synonyms or different ways to phrase your search. The original search term could be modified to "Book lists for young adults." or "Best books for teenagers to read." It is still addressing your original question, but phrased in a new way, which may broaden your results.
Use Boolean Operators:
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AND = includes both terms (e.g., books AND teenagers)
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OR = includes either term (e.g., teens OR adolescents)
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NOT = excludes a term (e.g., reading NOT digital)
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Quotation marks are also helpful for exact search terms, such as "young adult literature."
Advanced Search Tools:
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Using the above methods, you can also combine multiple keywords.
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Narrow your search by date, source type, or peer-reviewed articles. You can also narrow it down to full-text only options so that you can read the full article in question.
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You can also search by subject. In certain databases there are options to search by topic, category, or subject. This can help narrow things down even more, but be careful not to narrow things down too much or else you may limit your results and not find what you are looking for.
Utilize the personalization options on your accounts:
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Most databases allow you to save your searches or save the search format you used so that you can return to it later. This can be beneficial if you've tried a number of naming conventions and options that gave you promising results, but you can't review them all in a single day. Saving your actual search with the conventions you used eliminates the need to replicate your previous actions. This can help you build your research over time.
Finally, ask a librarian for help if you get stuck. Live chat with a librarian is an underutilized yet incredibly beneficial tool. If you need help finding what you are looking for they can help you find articles, locate citations, and more. Whether it is online or in person, librarians can help you come up with search terms, help you refine results, and recommend other databases or resources.
Search Engine Strategies
When using a search engine such as Google, you can be more broad with your searches. You don't need full sentences you can search things like "Best YA thriller books".
If you are looking for something specific, use quotations. "Books like The Summer I Turned Pretty series".
Do you want results from a particular site? Try searching by adding site limits:
- Teen book recommendations site: nypl.org
- Young adult reading lists site: ala.org
- Fantasy books for teens site: goodreads.com
Use + to include something or - to remove something:
- YA books + fantasy + romance
- YA books -witches
- Books for teens -middle grade
Also, here are some Google shortcuts:
