General Tips | Too Few Results | Too Many Results | Irrelevant Results | Get Research Assistance | Related Topics
Search effectiveness can depend on database selection, database coverage, term selection, spelling and many other variable factors. If your search is unsuccessful, make sure you are in the right database and are using the right search terms. Subject librarians can help direct you to the right sources for your topic and can suggest terms that will find relevant results.
Do you need information about the specific concept described by your term (Macintosh) or a broader concept (computers)?
If you are typing "euthanasia," you will miss all valuable articles that talk about the same topic, but use the phrase "physician assisted suicide." Connect the related terms and synonyms with "or" - for example, "euthanasia or assisted suicide or physician assisted suicide." If you cannot think of any synonyms or related terms, use dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference sources listed on out Choose a Topic page or get research assistance from a librarian.
Truncation is the addition of a symbol to a word root to retrieve variant endings. Many databases use an asterisk (*) as a truncation symbol. For example, educat* will retrieve educator, education, educational. Check the database Help section or see on-screen examples for the symbols used in a particular database.
When you look at a record, you might see that certain fields (author, subject, call number) are hyperlinked. Following the links may help find related material.
If you are searching the UC Library Catalog and finding too few books, try the OhioLINK catalog.
If you are searching an index for journal or newspaper articles, try a different index. For example, you will find some articles about attention deficit disorder (ADD) in a general index like Academic Search Premier; you will find many more in an education index like Education Abstracts or in a medical database.
Be specific. If you are doing research about first year students, use "freshmen" or "first year students" rather than just "students."
Combine terms describing your topic using "and" - for example, "students and stress." Your terms will be found in the same record, but possibly in different fields. A word of caution: combining too many terms will limit your results or may result in no matches. Start with a few essential terms and narrow down as needed.
You can exclude certain concepts by using the words "not" (or in some databases "and not") - for example, "freshman and not high school" will eliminate records with the "high school."
Phrase searching means that you are looking for the words together and in the exact order. Some databases suggest that you enclose a phrase in double quotation marks - for example, "college students." In some databases you can select the phrase option from a drop-down menu.
Look for the database limiters or modifying features that will help you to limit your results by date, language, full text availability or to scholarly sources. Once you set limits they may remain in effect until you clear them.
The terms that you typed may be too narrow, too broad, or may have multiple meanings. The term stress may find titles like "Handbook of Residual Stress and Deformation of Steel," and "Managing Workplace Stress." Include additional concepts to narrow your search or exclude concepts. Tips on identifying appropriate search terms.
If you are looking for articles in journals or newspapers, you should be searching an index or database. You can look up a database by title in an A-Z list or by subject under Subject Guides.
If you are looking for a journal title, see this search tip.
If you are looking for books, videos, print journals or other items, you should start with the UC Library Catalog, and then search the OhioLINK Catalog or other catalogs if needed. The Find Media page lists databases for funding images, sound and multimedia files.
When you do a keyword search for several terms connected with "and," your terms may appear in different fields, and you may retrieve records that have nothing to do with your actual topic. To avoid this, search for the terms as a phrase.
Proximity operators (near, w/#) find words within a specified range in either order. For example, "illiteracy w/2 adult*" will find "illiteracy" and "adults" within two words of each other, for example, " illiteracy among adults," "adult population illiteracy." Check the database Help section on on-screen examples to see if proximity operators are used.
A librarian can help you find the right database or print search tool. Visit our Research Assistance page for various options.
Catalog tips (see the Search Tips and Limiting and Expanding sections)
How to choose a database (tips from OhioLINK)
Suggested databases for general research topics