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Database Searching Basics

1. Start with a basic search

Start by thinking about the main ideas in your research question. For example, in the question, "How can nonverbal communication be used to solve conflict management issues within organizations?"

These keywords can be used in your search statement: 

nonverbal communication, conflict management, organizations

 

Try a simple search in OneSearch or a database related to your topic. 

TIPS:

  • Start with the keywords from your research topic
  • Always capitalize Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) in your search statement.
  • Use parentheses around related terms, i.e. (cat OR feline) AND (diabetes OR insulin)
  • Do not put * inside of parentheses, i.e. use senior manage* instead of (senior manage*)

2. Use AND and quotation marks to improve your results

To be sure that a database includes all of your keywords in a search, use AND between them:

"nonverbal communication" AND "conflict management" AND organizations   

If you place multi-word phrases (for example, "nonverbal communication") in quotation marks, most databases will search only for articles where the words appear exactly as they do within the quotes.

Using quotation marks will often increase the number of useful articles a search finds.

3. Expand your search using OR

If you do not find enough useful articles, expand your search by using OR to include additional, related keywords:

"nonverbal communication" AND ("conflict management" OR "conflict resolution" OR mediation OR negotiation)  AND organizations   

Look through the subject terms, title, and abstract of useful articles you find for keywords related to those that you have used - then try connecting them using OR as shown above. This will often locate useful articles missed in your first search.

4. Expand your search using truncation

Many databases allow you to use "*" (an asterisk) to truncate a term. Truncating allows you to search for all variations of a word using a single search. For example, a search for ... 

negotiat*

... will find articles containing negotiate, negotiation, negotiates, and negotiating. Broadening a search like this can help you find more useful articles.

TIP:

In OneSearch, do not use the * symbol inside quotation marks, or you will get wildly inaccurate results. Thus, a search like this will not work in OneSearch (though it would be fine in most other library databases):

"negotiat* tactics"

Instead, in OneSearch, to search for articles containing the phrase "negotiating tactics" or "negotiation tactics" you would search like this, spelling out the words without truncation:

("negotiating tactics" OR "negotiation tactics")

5. Exclude words with NOT

NOT is used rarely, for example, to exclude a keyword from your search if the keyword has multiple or closely related meanings:

"nonverbal communication" NOT "electronic communication"

How do I use OneSearch?

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