Search Help

What do I type in the search boxes?
Use keywords, not full sentences. State your topic in the form of a question, and identify the keywords or key concepts.

Example:
How does stress affect mental health?
Keywords: stress, mental health

Type stress and mental health in the search boxes.

Think of synonyms. In addition to mental health, try using tension, anxiety and/or nervousness.  Use the thesaurus or subjects/descriptors to find additional or alternative keywords.

What are Boolean operators?
Boolean operators are AND, OR, and NOT. Use them to connect your different keywords.

AND: Each result contains all search terms. When searching for stress AND mental health, each article in your results list will contain stress and mental health. AND narrows your search. Use it to connect different keywords.

OR: Each results contains at least one search term. When searching for stress OR anxiety, each article in your results list will contain stress or anxiety. OR broadens your search. Use it to find synonyms.

NOT: Results do not contain the specified term. When searching for mental health NOT mental illness, no articles in your results list will contain mental illness.

What is truncation?
Truncation is used to find alternate endings of keywords. The most common truncation symbol is the asterisk *. The truncation symbol in the DU Online Catalog is a question mark ?.

Searching for employ* will give you articles that contain the terms employ, employs, employee, employment.

Should I use quotations marks?
Put exact phrases, such as “No Child Left Behind” in quotation marks. This tells the database that you are looking for an exact phrase – those words in that order.

Can I limit my results to certain types of sources?
Databases allow you set limits, such as:
• only peer-reviewed journal articles
• items in a certain date range
• only articles, or only videos, or only book reviews
• articles with available full text

How do I get the full text of an article?
If the full text is in the database you are searching, there will be a link to it in HTML, PDF, or both. If the full text is not in the database are you searching, there will be a link that says something like, “Find Full Text in Other Databases.” Click on that link to launch Article Linker. Article Linker will automatically search all of Dominican’s other databases for the full text and, if it’s available, will provide a link to it. It will also tell you if Dominican owns the journal you need in print.

Remember: The keywords and search strategies you use in one database can be used in other databases and in the book catalog.