One thing students struggle with is finding too much irrelevant information in the databases. This is because of one very specific problem: computers are literal. They will search for your words wherever they can, which means you might get a result that uses your words in a different context. Luckily there are some simple tricks to help you tell the computer what to do. Here are the three I use the most:
The default searches for your words within the same element using the word "and". This means that both words must be present. So if you were looking for a pizza with pepperoni AND mushrooms, you would not want one with only pepperoni or only mushrooms. Both ingredients must be on the pizza.
The word "or" is used to tell the database that as long as one or the other of your words show up, you would like to see it. If you wanted pizza with pepperoni OR mushrooms, you would be given all the options that have either pepperoni or mushrooms, including those that have both pepperoni and mushrooms.
You can use the word NOT to tell the database that you want certain things but not other things. If you would be happy with pepperoni OR mushrooms on your pizza but olives gross you out, you can tell the database not to include them with NOT.
The asterisk can be typed using Shift + 8 on a standard keyboard and looks like a star. Most databases automatically look for plural forms of word (ex. searching drug also finds drugs) but some words that have various endings you may want to search for.
You may think that you don't need to find all the things, but using the asterisk not only finds more, but also changes the relevance rankings of the results.
While there are only about 10 more articles using overdos*, the order in which they are presented changes. An article that uses your search term more frequently is going to be listed first, and by expanding your search to include all the versions of overdose, you find articles that are more focused on the topic.
Putting multiple words inside of quotation marks tells the database or search engine to look for those words together as a phrase. Be on the lookout for words that provide a specific meaning the word it comes before to after.
| Words with Multiple Contexts | Words that Describe Previous Word | Type in search box, In quotes |
|---|---|---|
| college | tuition, cost, debt, loans | "college tuition" |
| military | participation, enlistment, service | "military enlistment" |
