Most library databases permit you to:

SEARCH by:

  Author

  Title

  Keywords

  Subject terms or Descriptors

LIMIT a search by:

  Language

  Publication date/range of dates

  Document type (e.g., articles, book reviews, etc.)

  Name of source journal

  Peer reviewed (scholarly or academic) journals

COMBINE Keywords using Boolean connectors:

  AND   narrows search

  OR    expands search

  NOT   excludes word

           Example:  spotted AND (dogs OR puppies) NOT hounds

     TRUNCATE search terms using symbols such as: *  ?  $

         By using an asterisk, your results will have words that start with the letters before the asterisk

           Examples:  sociol* - retrieves sociology, sociological, sociologist

           OR demography, demographic, demographics, demographical – this is a good way to retrieve word variations.

                      wom?n - retrieves woman or women

           Find phrases or adjacent words: For example:  "civil rights"