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FYWS A Place of One's Own: Search Strategies

Keyword Searching

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Find Subject Headings

Find subject headings in Spartan Search:

  • Use keywords to find a good resource
  • Click on the title
  • Scroll down to the description
  • Use Subjects to focus your search
  • Look at Contents to find additional keywords

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Find subject headings in EBSCO databases:

  • Use keywords to find a good article
  • See Abstract/Objectives below title for additional keywords
  • If abbreviated, click Show More
  • Use Subjects below abstract to focus your search
  • If indicated, click +x more for additional subjects

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Use advanced search:

  • Combine subject terms to focus your search even further
  • If available, use a drop down box to search by subject
  • Use quotation marks to search a subject phrase

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Boolean Operators

Using Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) with your keywords will help you narrow or expand your results.

The highlighted middle section represents the use of AND. Searching for poverty AND addiction will give you results with both words present. Therefore, your results are fewer.

Using OR between similar keywords will give you results that include both words. Therefore, your results are greater. A search for teenagers OR adolescents will retrieve either or both terms.

The NOT operator gives you results from only one of your words. Therefore, your results are fewer. Searching for addiction NOT alcohol will eliminate alcohol from the results.

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Keyword Searching Worksheet