ENG1002-Villarreal-English Composition II

• Have a strategy!
• Write down your topic
• Brainstorm terms with the same meaning
• Search for keywords, not sentences
  • Do: addiction alcoholism
  • Don't: What are the effects of alcoholism and addiction?
• Group phrases within quotation marks
  • Do: "substance abuse"
• Review descriptions/records of useful items for more search terms
• Keep track of where you have searched and what keywords were helpful
• Ask the experts for some help

What are you searching for?

Library databases can be picky about the search terms you choose. Don't search by simply typing in a sentence!

In the following example, the highlighted words would be your search terms. 

• Does Stephen King’s symbolic use of cameras and monoliths accurately convey the reality of living with obsessive-compulsive disorder in his short story, “N.”?
• Does Charlotte Perkins Gilman depict postpartum depression in "The Yellow Wallpaper"?
• How is grief portrayed in "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe?

Synonyms - Other ways to reframe your question

Using Phrases to Search

For search terms that include multiple words, use quotes " " to keep the database from splitting up the phrase. "Mental Illness" will search for the exact phrase "mental illness."

Boolean Operators

Use the Boolean Operators AND, OR, and NOT to create search statements to enter in databases, SOAR, Google, et cetera. 

Examples:

• College AND Technology AND Learning
• (College OR Higher Learning OR University) AND (Technology OR Computers) AND (Learning OR Instruction)
• (Technology AND Learning AND Elementary) NOT College

Truncation

Truncation allows you to search for multiple terms with the same root at once by using an asterisk:

• Educat* = Educate, Education, Educational, Educator
• Child* = Child, Children, Childish

Source: Carnegie Vincent Library, Boolean Operators: Pirates vs. Ninjas