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Search effectively

Learn about the key components of an effective search strategy

The Planning Process

There are four important steps in the planning of an effective search strategy.

Click on the icons below to learn more about each step:

Tempting as it is to type whole questions into a search box, you will get better results if you focus on the main concepts and ignore common words
Authors use all kinds of words to describe similar concepts, so you too should come up with a list of synonyms with which to search.
Some search tips are universal and can be applied regardless of which database you are using.
Once you have a list of potential search terms, you need to connect them using the Boolean operators AND & OR