1. G.Rammiya
MLIS,
Pondicherry University.

2. Introduction
 Increasingly people are turning to the Internet to find
information.
 People often assume that they need no training to
search the Internet and that technology does all the
work.
 In fact, a little time spent in formulating a search
strategy will both save you
 time and provide you with greatly improved results.

3. Search Strategies
o Determine your topic
o Formulate a working thesis
o Check for background information
o Develop a list of keywords and phrases
o Search in databases, on the Internet, in library
catalogs
o Evaluate resources
o Keep publication/origination information organized.

4. Determine Your Topic
o The course and assignment will guide your choice of a
topic
o A topic that is interesting to you often works best
o A very broad topic may need narrowing
o A very specific topic may need expansion

5. Developing Keywords
o To develop a list of keywords, write down as many
different terms related to your topic as you can think of
o Make the list as varied as possible
o You can combine keywords in your searches
o Use a thesaurus, your textbook, and encyclopedias for
ideas
o Generate a list of 12 to 20 words

6. Search Techniques
Several techniques for database, catalog and
Internet searches include:
o Boolean techniques
o Truncation
o Phrase Searching

7. Boolean Searches
 Developed by George Boole.
 The power of Boolean searching is based on
combinations of keywords with connecting terms
called operators.
 Allow you to broaden a search
 Allow you to narrow a search
 Designated differently in each search engine.

8. Boolean Search
 Boolean search techniques work in databases and on
the Internet. Use keywords in a variety of ways to
refine your search. A and B stand for key words or
phrases. The words “AND,” “OR” and “NOT” are called
logical operators.

9. Boolean Search
 AND: When you use “AND” between two terms, your
results will include sources that show the two terms
together in a source.

10. Boolean Search
 OR: Use “OR” to broaden your search by looking for
several terms in a source whether they appear together
or not.

11. Boolean Search
 NOT: Allows you to reduce the number of results you
get from a search. This can be helpful if you want to
exclude results related to your topic but not relevant to
your thesis.

12. Truncation
o Use the root of a word to broaden your search
responses.
o Using the root Psych* will result in the following:
o
o
o
o
o
Psychology
Psychological
Psychologist
Psychiatry
Psychiatrist

13. Wildcard Searches
 A special symbol which allows you to
 search simultaneously for several words
 with the same stem, Educate*
Educator,
2. Educators
3. Education
4. Educational.
1.

14. Phrase Searching
o Using quotation marks (“”) makes it possible to
search for important phrases instead of individual
keywords
o Phrase: “San Francisco Earthquake”
o As Keywords: San Francisco and Earthquake
o Phrase: “Welfare Reform”
o As Keywords: Welfare and Reform
o Phrase: “Community College”
o As Keywords: Community and College

15. Examples
o Using AND, OR, NOT, with * and “”
o “Coll*” AND “Welfare Reform” OR poverty NOT welfare
o Some databases or search engines may use symbols in
place of the Boolean terms:
o “Distance learning” + (and) technology - (not)
computers

16. Conclusion
o In general, it is better to have more information than
too little
o Look for a variety of materials
o Use a variety of keywords
o Use general and specific databases
o Plan for enough time to return to research in case your
approach changes or you need more information