Search Basics

Knowing how best to utilize search tools can prove invaluable when researching material for an assignment.

What is a search tool? | Search statement | Boolean operators
Phrase searching | Truncation | Field searching | Parentheses

A search statement is your research question written as an expression the search tool can interpret in order to locate relevant results.

A search statement is usually made up of:

Example

Topic: The effects of tobacco advertising on teenagers

Concepts: tobacco advertising, teenagers

Possible search statement:

(tobacco or cigarette* or nicotine) and (advertis* or commercial* or marketing) and (teen* or youth or adolescent*)