Biography

Use:

• Always capitalize Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) in your search statement.

• AND
  This strategy will narrow your search. 
• OR
  This strategy will broaden your search. Put words linked by OR inside parentheses ( ).
• Quotation marks " "
  Using quotation marks will ensure that the database finds results that use that exact phrase.
• Asterisk * 
  The * symbol tells the database to search for alternative word endings, for example: cultur* will search for culture, cultures, cultural

How do I choose keywords for my searches?

• Words to include
  For a biographical research topic, you would want to include, at the very least, the person's name.
• Use quotation marks
  If the surname is common, you can optimize your search by putting quotation marks around the full name. Using quotation marks will ensure that the database finds results that use that exact name.  
• Use AND
  To search for both the writer and the work together, you need to link your search terms with AND. This strategy will narrow your search. 

Found too many results?

• Add more keywords
  If you find that you are retrieving too many results, try adding more keywords to further narrow your topic.

Found too few results?

• Use OR
  If you are searching for a lesser-known writer or work, you may not find much information about the particular writer and work you have chosen. In this case you can try broadening your search by using OR to link your terms. This strategy will broaden your search because it will return results that mention either Hemingway and either biography, autobiography, or memoir.

• Look for more background information 
  Search the free Web for background information on a person, but be sure to authenticate any information you find with a scholarly source from a library database or the library catalog. Wikipedia may have many useful links at the bottom of the entry.

You can review your searching skills with our Database Searching Basics guide and this UMGC Library Webinar on Boolean Searching.