#SearchSmart! Information Literacy Tutorial

To get the best possible results while searching Library resources, use these Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) and search modifiers (see Unit 2.2) 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.

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 1.3 (Plan your Research: Learning Activity), 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.