BUS T175 COMPASS I

Searching large multidisciplinary/multi-publication databases requires efficient and effective strategies to obtain a set of manageable and useful search results.

Databases like Business Source Complete, ABI-INFORM, Factiva and Nexis Uni allow you to search for articles from magazines, journals, newspaper and more. They are sometimes called literature databases or aggregators. They provide powerful search mechanisms, but do not work like Google, so you have to approach them in the right way.

Brainstorm search terms.
	What are you trying to learn about? How might authors refer to that? You can search for articles about "cats," but if an article only refers to them as "kitties" or "felines," you will miss those articles, even though they are about your topic. Think of as many synonyms and related terms as you can. You might not need them all, but it's good to be prepared.
Don't search by asking a question, search using concepts..
	If you want to know how package design affects consumers' buying patterns, DON'T type   How does package design affect consumers' buying patterns? DO type   "package design" AND consumer AND purchase
Use filters to narrow your results..
	Databases like Business Source Complete, ABI/INFORM and Nexis Uni let you refine your search results by limiting to a certain period of time, type of publication, language, and more. This keeps you from having to dig through things that are too old to be useful, not in a language you can read, etc.
Look beyond the first page of results..
	The database doesn't know what you're trying to do, so don't believe it when it says the results are sorted by relevance. The things you're looking for may be on the 4th or 5th page of results (or beyond) and it's worth the extra couple of minutes to check: Fast isn't always efficient.
Search in the right place..
	There are generalist databases, like Academic Search Premier and JSTOR, that have a little bit of everything, and discipline-specific databases that only deal with business (or psychology or education ...) If you need in-depth business information, a business-focused database is best.
Use AND, OR, NOT and quotation marks to make your search more precise..
	Use AND between concepts to make sure all the concepts are included in your search. Use OR between synonyms to search for all the variations on that concepts. (Put parentheses around groups of synonyms as shown below.) Use NOT to ban articles that contain a specific word. Use quotes for concepts that are denoted by more than one word: "tax law" "child labor" "united states."

Download a version of these tips here:

Most library databases use Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT). 

Use them to narrow or broaden search results.

• AND for records that include both terms (narrows search)
• OR for records that include either term (broadens search)
• NOT to exclude irrelevant concepts (narrows search)

Example: Iran AND China AND (energy OR petroleum OR oil) 

Adapted from SAIS Library, Johns Hopkins Univ. "Database Search Tips" Guide (no longer extant).

Records in library databases are made of "fields." Fields can help narrow your search.

Example of common fields in databases:

• author
• title
• journal title
• abstract
• publisher
• date/year of publication
• subject/descriptor
• all text (searches the full text, if available)

Improving Search Results with Fields

• Most databases automatically search by keyword (looking for the term anywhere in the record).
• Limit the field for a search term to narrow the results.
• Fields are usually in drop down boxes.
• If the database has a single search box with no drop-down menu, look for an "Advanced Search" option.
   

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Adapted from SAIS Library, Johns Hopkins Univ. "Database Search Tips" Guide (no longer extant).

Identify effective search terms for database and web resources. (From Portland State University.)