Biology

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 biology research project, you would want to include the main concepts from your topic
• Use quotation marks
  If any of the concepts are longer than one word, you can optimize your search by putting quotation marks around them. Using quotation marks will ensure that the database finds results that use that exact phrase.  
• Use AND
  To search for several concepts, 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
  Think of alternative keywords and add them to your search using OR. Put keywords linked by OR inside parentheses. 

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