It is usually a good idea to start out broadly, so using just one or two of your topic terms is a good way to begin. Once you have a set of results, you can begin narrowing down your results by entering one or more terms. Searching in a specific field such as "Subject" or "Title" will narrow or focus your results.
Truncation Finds Multiple Word Forms
The asterisk (*) is usually used to search words with the same root:
Person* = Personal, Personality, Personable, etc.
Wildcard symbols (usually a ‘?’) replace a single letter:
Wom?n = Woman, Women
Once you locate a few good articles on your topic, be sure to review the references to other articles that are cited. This is a great way to locate related research articles on your topic. Many databases also provide a link to these articles if they are available electronically. If you don't find a link, be sure to check the Library's Journals Search to see if it's available. If not, you can always use our awesome Interlibrary Loan Service.
