Research Guides: English: In-Depth Research

Keywords

Keep it simple
- Include only a few (2-3) keywords in your searches—words that get to the heart of what you're looking for
- Example: How does Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca exemplify the gothic fiction genre?
  - Daphne du Maurier
  - Rebecca
  - Gothic Fiction*
Consider synonyms/related words
- *There are multiple ways we can express this idea. We could also exchange this keyword for something that might have a different meaning, but still elicit relevant results:
  - Synonyms/similar keywords: gothic literature, gothic fiction, gothic romance, moody, resonant, dark, haunting
  - Broader/related keywords: writing, writing style, literary style, analysis, criticism, interpretation
Start broad
- Then narrow down based on what you're seeing in your search results

Boolean Search Operators

Databases work similarly to other search engines, but they are much pickier! So, you have to play by their rules and speak their language to get the best results. That's where Boolean operators come in:

Boolean Operator Basics:
- Many databases integrate Boolean operators into their “Advanced Search” function to make it easier to incorporate them into your search
- Not all databases default to an advanced search, so if there aren’t multiple boxes to search, you’ll want to find the option for “Advanced Search” to easily use Boolean operators.
- If you have to type in any of the Boolean operators, you should type them in capital letters so the database differentiates them from your keywords.

Boolean Operator: AND
- You want to use the Boolean Operator AND to search for two or more distinct ideas.
- Using AND returns fewer results, because it tells the database that both ideas must be included in every result.

Boolean Operator: OR
- This operator is useful when you are looking for information on a topic, but there are multiple ways to talk about it.
- Using OR returns broader search results and can help you find more items on a topic by accounting for word choice variation

Boolean Operator: NOT
- You use the Boolean Operator NOT when you want to exclude results from your search.
- It is really useful to use when you complete a search and it is cluttered with unrelated results. However, you probably will not use the operator NOT very often in your research, as it can exclude related results as well.