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*History Research

Search Tips

To get the best search results, it helps to break down your research topic into its core ideas – these are your main keywords. Think about different words that describe these ideas. If your database has a thesaurus or index, it can be super helpful to check for the best official terms. Your instructor or a librarian can also give you great keyword suggestions!

A keyword search looks for matching words in titles, descriptions, abstracts, and other descriptive information. Sometimes the author provides keywords; the database will also assign subject headings (a controlled list of terms) to aid in searching.

Some ideas to get you brainstorming keywords:

  • Browse the databases, journals, or the library catalog to get a sense of the main topics the researchers are discussing in your discipline.
  • Talk with your research advisor (often your instructor) about their expectations for the project and topics that will be most helpful.
  • Consider larger fields where your topic fits.
  • Take note of popular stories on the topic that interest you. How do they talk about the topic differently from academic researchers?
  • Consult a librarian. When you talk to someone outside of the field, you can get an outside perspective that can help guide your research.

Using Boolean Operators to Focus Your Search

  • AND: This operator helps you narrow down your search by telling the database that all your keywords must be present in the results. For example, searching for "video games AND teens" will only show you results that talk about both video games and teens.
  • OR: Use this to broaden your search. It tells the database that any of your keywords can be in the results. So, "children OR juveniles" will give you results that mention either children, or juveniles, or both.
  • NOT: This is useful for excluding specific terms from your search results. For instance, "teens NOT adults" will show you information about teens, but it will leave out anything that specifically mentions adults.

Infographic of three Boolean operators: and, or, and not are in dark blue circles. The first dark blue circle is the operator and in white text is a light blue rectangular box, which contains two bullets explaining how and refining the search to retrieve articles that contain both terms, which narrows the search. The example "video games" AND "teens" in a search window. The light blue rectangular box next to the operator "or" is the explanation of how OR helps refine the search; by retrieving articles with ANY of the terms, and broadening the search, and for example, "children OR juveniles" broadens the search to different vocabulary terms. Next to this rectangular box is a dark blue circle with OR written in white text in the middle. Finally, the not operator dark blue circle with a light blue rectangular box with two bullets explaining how it refines the search, it eliminates articles containing the second term and narrows the search, and "games AND teens NOT adults," the search will narrow the results to material without the keyword adults.

Using Truncation, Wildcards, Exact Phrase, and Other Limiters

  • Asterisk (*) for Truncation: Add an asterisk at the end of a root word to find all its different endings. For example, "diet*" will find results containing "diet," "diets," "dieting," and "dietary."
  • Question Mark (?) for Wildcards: Use a question mark inside a word to replace a single letter. This is handy for catching different spellings. For example, "wom?n" will find both "woman" and "women."
  • Quotation Marks ( " " ) for Exact Phrase: Putting two or more words inside quotation marks tells the database to consider all the words as one keyword, and the words must appear in that exact order.
  • Explore Database Limiters: The database you're using likely has other ways to narrow your search, like by date, publication type, or subject. Be sure to check out the options available to you!

An infographic of four boxes, each of which provides an example of how to narrow the search results. The first example is in the top left light blue box, where an asterisk can be used as a truncation, which searches for different endings of a keyword. If you add an asterisk at the end of a root word, to can find all its different endings. For example, "diet*" will find results containing “diet,” “diets,” “dieting,” and “dietary.” In the top right dark blue box are details about using a question mark can act as a wildcard when searching. A question mark inside a word to replace a single letter. This is handy for catching different spellings. For example, “wom?n” will find both “woman” and “women.” The bottom left, dark blue box, using quotation marks, searches for an exact phrase. By putting two or more words inside quotation marks, it tells the database to consider all the words as one keyword, and the words must appear in that exact order. The bottom right, light blue box suggests using the database’s limiters or filters. Almost all databases you're using likely have other ways to narrow your search, by date, publication type, or subject. Be sure to check out the options available to you.

Plan a search strategy

  • Define your topic
  • What question do you want to answer?
  • Identify keywords and phrases that describe your answer
  • Brainstorm alternate spellings, related terms, broader concepts, and more specific concepts
  • Identify the subject area or areas that your topic may fall under

Test and refine your search

  • Test your keywords and phrases in each database
  • Use the database limiters, and if needed, adjust the Boolean Operators
  • If you don't find what you're looking for right away, try some of the alternate terms you brainstormed earlier
  • Refine your search using the side menu options
  • Review the subject terms for each result and possibly use that as an alternative term