Subject Guides: #SearchSmart! Information Literacy Tutorial: 2. Build your Search Strategy

Unit 2

Learning Objective:

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

Develop effective search techniques using Boolean operators and search modifiers, to locate more focused and relevant information;
Understand the differences between keyword, phrase, and subject searching and apply the appropriate search techniques for optimal results;
Utilise search limiters to refine and narrow search results.

Build your search strategy

Watch this informative video tutorial to enhance your search techniques and effectively locate relevant information for your research endeavors.

NB: Click on the next tab above (2.2. Boolean Operators) to continue with Unit 2.

Boolean Operators

To get the best possible results while searching Library resources, use these Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) and search modifiers (see Unit 2.3) with your keywords. They'll help you communicate exactly what you want (and don't want) to the database.

Pro Tip: Use quotation marks " " when searching exact phrases, i.e. “information communication technologies” / “South Africa”

Here are a few examples of these operators in action:

internet

AND bullying

AND teenagers

The database will look for resources that contain each word: internet, bullying, and teenagers.

Pro Tip: You'll get fewer and more relevant results if you add more words with AND.

"artificial intelligence" OR AI

The database will look for resources that use the term "artificial intelligence" or the word AI ... or both!

Pro Tip: You'll get more search results as you add more words with OR.

Try this with synonyms!

anorexia

NOT bulimia

The database will ignore any resources using the word after NOT (in this case, bulimia).

Pro Tip: You'll get fewer and more relevant results as you exclude words with NOT.

Combining Boolean Operators into a Search String

In order to retrieve the most relevant results, you will need to construct a search string. A search string is a combination of keywords, phrases, synonyms, Boolean operators and search modifiers that you enter into the search box of a database.

In Unit 1.4 (Plan your Research: Apply your learning), we identified main keywords or concepts for the topic:

"Analyse the use of smartphones among urban youth in South Africa"

Keywords identified: "smartphones", "urban youth", "South Africa"

Here's an example of a search string using the given key concepts and incorporating various search techniques:

("smartphone" OR "mobile phone" OR "cell phone") AND ("urban youth" OR "city youth")) AND "South Africa"

Explanation:

The search string starts with brackets to group related keywords and phrases.
"smartphone" is combined with synonyms "mobile phone" and "cell phone" using the OR operator to capture variations of the term.
"urban youth" is combined with "city youth" using the OR operator to encompass related terms.
The AND operator is used to connect the "smartphones" group with the "urban youth" group, ensuring both concepts are present in the search results.
Finally, "South Africa" is included to focus the search on information specific to that geographic region.

NB: Click on the next tab above (2.3. Search Modifiers) to continue with Unit 2.

Nesting ( )

To retrieve the broadest set of search results, you may include several variations of your search terms using the "nesting" approach. Nesting uses brackets / parentheses ( ) to keep concepts that are alike together, and to tell the database to look for search terms in the brackets first.

Pro Tip: Never mix Boolean Operators without using brackets ( ):

Grouping search terms within brackets allows you to force the ordering of Boolean Operators.
Without brackets, a search of cats OR kittens AND dogs OR puppies would process kittens AND dogs first instead of cats OR dogs.

Phrase Searching " "

Phrase searching narrows your search results by allowing you to define precisely how you want the words to appear. For example, if you are searching for information on job satisfaction then you are probably looking for those two words to appear right next to each other, with no other words in between, in the text of the document. To make sure that the database searches this correctly, put quotation marks around your search term and force the database to search this as a phrase, i.e. "job satisfaction".

Pro Tip: Be careful when you use phrase searching; if you put too many words in quotations the database will most likely not find any results. You want to only use phrase searching on established phrases - words that you can reasonably expect other authors used.

Truncation *

Truncation lets you search for a word that could have multiple endings. The symbol for truncation is usually an * at the point where the spelling of the word could change. For example, children AND music* would find articles with the terms children and music/musical/musician/musicians/musicality in them.

Pro Tip: Truncation is very useful when you know one of your search terms has several endings, but all of the variations represent basically the same idea. Using truncation will help you complete your search faster because you will not have to manually type in and search every variation of the word.

Wildcards ? #

Use wildcards symbols in searches to account for alternate spellings.

? stands for one additional character, but not for zero characters. For example, wom?n will return results for women or woman.
# stands for zero or one character. For example, colo#r will return results for color or colour.

Pro Tip: Use wildcards only where necessary. While wildcards allow for greater flexibility by matching various word forms and variations, they can also generate a large number of irrelevant results if used too broadly.

Proximity Searching ^n

Proximity is when the caret symbol followed by a number requires the two terms joined by it to be within a certain number of words of each other. For example, in a search for ("mental health"^5) the number is 5, which means that the terms "mental" and "health" must appear within five words of each other in the search results.

Pro Tip: A smaller number restricts the proximity range and provides more precise results, while a larger number expands the range and retrieves more comprehensive results.

NB: Click on the next tab above (2.4. Search Limiters) to continue with Unit 2.

Search Limiters

Databases offer a range of search limiters that help refine search results. Some common search limits include:

Full-Text Limit: By applying this limit, you retrieve articles that have the complete content available, allowing immediate access to the entire article rather than just the abstract or summary.
Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed Limit: This limit ensures that only scholarly or peer-reviewed articles are included in the search results, providing reliable and academically rigorous sources.
Publication Date Limit: This limit allows you to narrow down results based on a specific range of publication dates, helping you focus on recent or historical articles as per your research needs.
Source Type Limit: This limit allows you to specify the type of source you are interested in, such as academic journals, books, conference proceedings, or newspapers, to tailor your search results accordingly.
Subject/Area of Study Limit: Some databases provide the option to limit search results to specific subject areas or disciplines, allowing you to narrow down the focus of your research within a particular field.
Journal Title Limit: Narrow down search results to articles published in specific journal titles.
Publisher Limit: Refine results based on the publishers of the articles, allowing you to focus on publications from specific publishers. These search limiters provide additional options to refine
Language Limit: By setting a language limit, you can filter search results to display articles written in a specific language, enabling you to access relevant content in your preferred language of study.
Geography Limit: Customize your search results by restricting them to a specific geographic region, providing relevant information specific to that location.
Collection Limit: Search within specific subsets or subject-specific collections within a database to access more targeted results.
Database Limit: Limit your search to a particular database or source, enabling you to explore results from a specific resource.

It's essential to explore the search page of each database you use to familiarise yourself with the available search limiters and utilise them effectively to obtain more precise and relevant results for your research.

NB: Click on the next tab above (2.5. Keyword, Phrase, Field and Subject Searching) to continue with Unit 2.

Keyword Searching

Keyword searching is generally what you use when you are first beginning a search. Try to break down your topic or research question into the overall main ideas; these main ideas become simple keywords which you may use to search a Library database. A keyword search retrieves words or phrases from several important fields, usually title, subject and abstract.

Pro Tip: keep a terminology list when you are researching a topic. This will help you remember the words you have already tried searching, the combinations you have used, and any new words you noticed in search results that you want to try in your searches later.

Field Searching

A field is a specific part of a record in a database. Common fields that can be searched are: author, title, subject, and abstract. When using the "Advanced Search" screen in uKwazi Search and databases, look for drop down boxes or menus to select the field you want to search. The default field for most databases may be called ‘keyword’ or ‘anywhere’.

Pro Tip: Multiple fields may be combined using Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT).

Subject Searching

Subject terms, also called controlled vocabulary, are specific words that have been assigned by a database to describe each book or article within. Library databases use searchable thesauri to arrange these subject terms. You can also use thesauri for ideas on keywords to use in your database searches when you aren’t quite sure which keywords to try.

Pro Tip: Not all databases have searchable thesauri, but many do. Look for a link that says “thesaurus,” “topics,” “subjects,” “descriptors”, “related terms," or look for the "Advanced Search" functionality.

NB: Click on the next tab (2.6. Apply your learning!) to continue with Unit 2.

Learning Activity

Let's explore the following topic:

Discuss how information communication technology has significantly changed the delivery of higher education in South Africa during the past decade.

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Identify the main keywords or concepts for the topic:

Discuss how information communication technology has significantly changed the delivery of higher education in South Africa post 2020.

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Find related terms (synonyms, narrower terms, broader terms) for each of the keywords:

NB: This is necessary when you do not find enough results from you first, basic search!

Information communication technology	higher education	South Africa	post 2020
Information communications technology	Tertiary education	Cape Town / Gauteng / Northern Cape	2020-2022 / past 3 years / post Covid-19
ICT or ICTs	Universities

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Build a search string with the keywords identified:

1. Use Phrase Searches " "

Use double quotes to enclose a phrase in order to search for string of words together (instead of a single word)

i.e. “information communication technologies”, "higher education"

2. Use Boolean Operators AND, OR, NOT

Use the AND operator to join each of your different concepts together

i.e. “information communication technologies” AND “higher education” AND “South Africa”

Use the OR operator to connect similar words within a concept - expand your results

i.e. (“higher education” OR “tertiary education” OR university)

Use the NOT operator to limit your results

i.e. “higher education” NOT “basic education”

3. Use Truncation * and/or Wildcard ? # symbols

Use the asterisk * truncation symbol to search for both singular and plural forms of a word

i.e. communication* (will search for) communication, communications and universit* (will search for) university, universities

4. Use Proximity Searching ^n

Use the caret symbol followed by a number ^n to ensure that search terms appear within a certain number of words of the other search i.e. "South Africa"^5

5. Bring them all together!

Now, try and put all of it all together into one search string.

Enter your answer here to check for the correct answer / feedback.

NB: Click on the next tab above (2.7. Challenge Yourself!) to finalise Unit 2 and earn yourself a Certificate of Completion.

Check your understanding

Assess your ability to construct effective search strategies by participating in the quiz focused on keyword, phrase, and subject searching, as well as search techniques and filters.

Earn a downloadable certificate for completing this unit.

#SearchSmart! Information Literacy Tutorial

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