Why use a database?

Many researchers rely heavily on Google Scholar to find articles. They will then search for the references found in those articles, and the "cited by" links, to expand their search. Sometimes this works really well, other times, less so. (The "less so" is what keeps librarians nice and busy!)

Google and Google Scholar are powered by proprietary algorithms. Because the systems are proprietary, we don't really know how/why certain results are displayed, or displayed first, or even if we are getting the most complete picture.

Library databases, on the other hand, are simply matching your keywords to words in the title, subject headings, and abstracts (summaries) of the articles in the journals indexed by the database. Some databases also look for your keywords in the full text of the article. You will find things you didn't find in Google Scholar, and sometimes you will find things in Google Scholar that you didn't find in a database.

The takeaway? Don't limit yourself to one tool!

Crafting the keyword search

Search tips:

  • Start broad, connecting just a few keywords or phrases with AND, e.g., satellites AND security
  • Place quotation marks around phrases, e.g., "outer space"
  • If you receive a large number of results, add keywords to narrow your search
  • Broaden your search with alternative terms, in parentheses, e.g., (military OR spy)
  • Use an asterisk on word stems to find variant endings, e.g., privat* finds both private and privatization

Sample keyword searches:
Note that I'm starting broad, adding terms to narrow, and using an asterisk to pick up private or privatization. Each time I add a term, I see a smaller number of results.

  • "outer space" AND satellites AND security
  • "outer space" AND satellites and security AND "international relations"
  • "outer space" AND satellites and security AND "international relations" AND privat*

When alternative terms will be helpful, place these terms in parentheses separated by OR.

 

  • satellites AND (military OR spy)