Search Tips

Hitchhiker's Guide to Online Searches

Need to find something for class but don’t know where to look? No teacher around to help you decide where or how to look? Can’t find Ms. Castro, Ms. Morford or Ms. Slade? Fear not! Searching the internet isn’t as difficult as you think – it just takes some directions. These are some general tips that will help you decide where to look, which words to use, how to narrow (or broaden) your search, and some secret tips as well!

Where should I start? Databases vs. the World Wide Web

If you’re working on something for class – a research paper or project – the best place to start is with the databases, for many reasons:

  • Databases are reliable – that means you can be pretty sure the information they contain comes from credible sources
  • Databases have been edited – you know the content you find on a database has been looked at by people who know what is right and what is wrong
  • Databases are filtered – when you search a database, you probably won’t get one million hits that have nothing to do with your topic. For example, when you google “Odyssey”, 8 of the first 12 hits have nothing to do with Homer’s literary work.

However, using a database to search for information does not guarantee that you’ll find results fast – online searches take skill, regardless of which route you choose.

Here are some helpful tips

Database searches

  • start with one key word, like “Odysseus”, and add more words to narrow your search (Odysseus and Medusa, Odysseus and Helenic Wars, etc.)
  • If using EBSCO, make use of the “Full Text” function! This allows the engine to search the entire text, not just the title or subject headings. You can always go back and narrow your topic if needed

WWW searches

  • use as many key words as possible to avoid unrelated hits

Searches in General

  • use “and” to find resources that further narrow topic: Odysseus and Mythology; cancer and holistic treatments
  • use “not” to avoid topics you don’t want: Odysseus not Medusa; cancer treatments not holistic
  • use parenthesis ( ) to make search more complex: Odysseus and (Medusa or Helen of Troy); cancer treatments and (treatments not chemotherapy)
  • use an asterisk * to find all possible variations of a word: Odysse* - searches for Odyssey, Odysseus, Odyssean, etc.