1. BASIC KEYWORD SEARCH

2. Ask a Librarian!
Barbara Shipman, Librarian
E-mail: ay2937@wayne.edu
Phone: 313-577-1234
IM AOL: waynelibrarian
Reference Desk: 313-577-8852

3. Objectives
 Identify keyword terms.
 Perform a keyword search.
 Perform a Boolean search.
 Incorporate truncation and wildcard
techniques.

4. How to access Academic OneFile database:
1. Library Homepage
http://www.lib.wayne.edu/index.php
2. Find Articles
3. Databases A to Z
4. Title begins with
5. Click the letter “A”
6. Select Academic OneFile
7. EZ Proxy Login
8. Enter your Access ID and Password

5.  Academic OneFile database contains more than
11,000 academic journals
 It covers topics from Science, Technology, and
Medicine to the humanities.
 The majority are peer-reviewed and in full
text, available in HTML and PDF formats.
Source taken from www.gale.com/onefile

6. What are Keywords?
 Keywords are words or phrases that identify major
concepts within the topic.
 Keyword search allows use of your own terms.
 Keyword search refines the search process.

7. Keyword Searching
1. Select Advance Search
2. Select Keyword index
3. Enter Keyword terms or phrases
4. Click Search

8. Phrase Search
 Results generated through a “phrase” search are
more specific than a simple search.
 Quotations around keywords will find the exact
phrase.
Example: “global warming”

9. Boolean Search
 Employ the words AND, OR and NOT within a
search statement to increase precision or relevance
in a database search.
 AND narrows your search
 OR broadens your search
 NOT narrows your search
The search engine is not case sensitive

10. Boolean Searching
1. Select Advance Search
2. Select Keyword index
3. Enter Keyword term(s)
4. Select AND/OR/NOT operators
5. Enter Keyword term(s)
6. Click Search

11. Truncation
 Truncation is used to shorten a keyword to its root-
level.
 Truncated keywords find all suffixes or ending of a
word.
Example: recy* histor* retrieves:
history, histories, historic, historical, historian, etc.

12. Wildcards
 Wildcards let you substitute symbols for one or
more letters.
 A question mark (?) stands for exactly one
character and is especially useful when you’re
uncertain of a spelling.
Example: p?e?monia
 A question mark is also useful for finding certain
words with variant spellings
Examples: defen?e retrieves both defence and
defense.

13. Wildcards
 An exclamation point (!) stands for one or no
characters and is especially useful when you want
to match the singular and plural of a word but not
other forms.
Example: product! matches product and products
but not productive or productivity.

14. Truncation and Wildcard search
1. Select Advance Search
2. Enter Keyword term(s)
3. Add truncation or wildcard symbols
4. Click Search

16. Wrap up!
What you’ve learned:
 Identified keyword terms.
 Performed a keyword search.
 Performed a Boolean search.
 Incorporated truncation and wildcard
techniques.

17. Thank You!
Remember to Ask a Librarian!
Barbara Shipman, Librarian
E-mail: ay2937@wayne.edu
Phone: 313-577-1234
IM AOL: waynelibrarian
Reference Desk: 313-577-8852