Before starting your search, think about how you might define your information needs using key terms and the words AND, OR, and NOT.
action | example | |
---|---|---|
1 | Identify your search ideas. | I need information on dogs and cats, but not about the various breeds. |
2 | Select key search terms. | dog, cat |
3 | Browse the indexes to verify the spelling and format of any key terms. This is especially useful for checking name spelling variations. | dog not dawg |
4 | Determine the relationships between terms. Use the plus sign (+) to indicate plurals. | I want results to include dog and cat, but not breed. |
5 | Combine terms using Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT). | dog AND cat NOT breed |