3. Effective Searching 3: Narrow your search
This short slide deck will provide an overview of
what you should consider when constructing
your search, to try and focus your search on the
most relevant results.
It forms part 3 of a series covering some of the
tools available to you to construct an effective
search.
Part 1 & 2 covered key concepts and broadening
your search using OR, wildcards and truncation
tools.
4. Effective Searching
Define your
information need
• What types
of resource
do you
need?
• Identify
where to
search.
• Identify
your key
concepts.
Broaden
your search
• Be compre-
hensive.
• Ensure
nothing is
missed un-
necessarily.
• “Cast your
nets wide.”
Narrow your
search
• Be focused.
• Exclude any
‘noise’.
• Ensure you
can use
your reading
time most
efficiently.
• “Use the
right nets.”
Evaluate
your results
• Identify
gaps.
• Assess un-
expected
results.
• Review
search
terms with
new knowl-
edge.
Make your
results work for
you
• Be efficient
with your
time.
• Search
alerts.
• Citation
searching.
5. Effective Searching 3: Narrow your search
We will cover:
(1) Focussing your search
a) Combining search concepts
(proximity connectors)
b) Phrase searching
(2) Filtering your search
a) Excluding results
(NOT connector)
b) Searching in facets
6. Effective Searching 3: Narrow your search
Let’s start with:
(1) Focussing your search
a) Combining search concepts
(proximity connectors)
b) Phrase searching
(2) Filtering your search
a) Excluding results
(NOT connector)
b) Searching in facets
7. Combining search terms 1:
If your research question is focussed on the use
of Propaganda in President Habyarimana’s
Rwanda, you are likely to want to ensure that the
most relevant results are talking about both
concepts.
8. (a) Combining search concepts
Using the AND connector will return only those results which
include both the term Rwanda and the term propaganda.
AND
Combining search terms 1
9. (a) Combining search concepts
Some services will assume an AND between two terms even
if you don’t include it…
… but not all.
AND
e.g.
Combining search terms 1
10. (a) Combining search concepts
Examples include:
AND
Power Search: Requires use of
‘AND’ connector. If not included,
searches for terms appearing as a
phrase or where two terms appear
consecutively.
Including the ‘AND’ connector “combines search terms so
that each search result contains all of the terms”. Not
including runs a search against an account default setting
(At Durham, this is “appearing within 5 words of”)
http://support.ebsco.com.ezphost.dur.ac.uk/help/index.php?help_id=35
Combining search terms 1
11. (a) Combining search concepts
So you may want to get into the habit of using it
even when not necessary…
1. Avoid mistakes
2. Make cutting & pasting your search
between databases easier.
Combining search terms 1
12. Combining search terms 2:
If you have already identified multiple alternative
terms to describe your key concepts (e.g.
teenager OR adolescent, attainment OR
achievement) you need to think carefully about
how you combine these elements within your
search…
13. b) Combining search concepts: multiple synonyms
(teen OR adolescent) AND (attainment OR achievement)
AND
Combining search terms 2:
AND
teen
OR
adolescent
attainment
OR
achievement
14. Combining search terms 3:
But sometimes, combining terms using the AND
connector can still return a large number of
results which don’t seem relevant…
15. c) Proximity connectors
truth AND reconciliation
Will return results where both terms appear,
anywhere within the document.
They could appear several pages apart and be
completely unrelated.
Combining search terms 3:
16. c) Proximity connectors
truth AND reconciliation
To account for this, some databases will allow you
to use a proximity connector instead of AND.
This will only return results where one keyword
appears within # words of another keyword.
Combining search terms 3:
17. c) Proximity connectors
truth w/3 reconciliation
WITHIN 3 WORDS – WILL BE INCLUDED
MORE THAN 3 WORDS – WOULD NOT BE INCLUDED
Combining search terms 3:
19. Truth w/5 reconciliationTruth /5 reconciliation
Truth N5 reconciliation
Truth adj5 reconciliation
Truth NEAR/5 reconciliation
NOTE – DIFFERENT DATABASES WILL USE DIFFERENT SYMBOLS FOR
PROXIMITY CONNECTORS. EXAMPLES INCLUDE:
All of the above could be used for a similar purpose:
Finding results where ‘truth’ appeared within 5 words of ‘reconciliation.
But some databases might use ‘N5’ to achieve this where another database might
use ‘w/5’ or ‘adj5’.
Combining search terms 3:
20. Combining search terms 3:
Some databases (such as JSTOR) use proximity connectors
differently – and this can impact on how you run more
complex searches.
“A search for debt forgiveness~10 will give you results that include both
the words "debt" and "forgiveness" within 10 words of each other.”
https://support.jstor.org/hc/en-us/articles/115012261448-Searching-Truncation-Wildcards-and-Proximity
This can mean some searches won’t work in JSTOR which
would work in another database. For example, if you need to
search for a phrase (e.g. “duty of care”) in proximity to
another term (e.g. ‘snail’).
21. Phrase searching
Sometimes it might be useful to search for only
results which include a specific phrase.
This could be when searching for:
• Commonly used names of people or organisations
• Specific events
• Widely recognised terminology and/or
methodologies.
E.g. “duty of care”, “Ottobah Cugoano”, “Charity
Commission”, “sudden infant death syndrome” or
“free radical polymerisation”
22. “ Truth and Reconciliation Commission”
Put the phrase you are searching for in
speech marks...
Phrase searching
23. “ Truth and Reconciliation Commission”
Phrase searching
26. {Truth and Reconciliation Commission}
“Truth and Reconciliation Commission”
Exact phrase
Approximate or ‘loose’
phrase
Phrase searching
… does it differently
27. Effective Searching 3: Narrow your search
Now let’s look at:
(1) Focussing your search
a) Combining search concepts
(proximity connectors)
b) Phrase searching
(2) Filtering your search
a) Excluding results
(NOT connector)
b) Searching in facets
28. Excluding terms
Sometimes you might run a search, and notice a
lot of the results returned are irrelevant because
they focus on a related topic you are not
interested in.
You may therefore want to exclude all results
from your search which mention a particular
word.
29. “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” NOT “South Africa”
Will return results where the phrase “Truth and Reconciliation
Commission” appears, but exclude those results which also
include the term “South Africa”…
Excluding terms
30. “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” NOT “South Africa”
… but be careful with the NOT connector.
It might exclude results which offer a comparative view, or
results where the excluded term appears only in a reference or
footnote, which may still be of interest.
Excluding terms
31. Excluding terms
This can sometimes have a dramatic impact on the
number of results you find and need to review…
… so be careful with the NOT connector.
It might exclude results which offer a comparative view, or results where the
excluded term appears only in a reference or footnote, which may be of interest.
32. Searching within facets
• In addition to narrowing your search by choice of
keywords and connectors…
• Consider carefully where you search for terms
appearing within a document.
• Use the filters provided, or search in particular fields
(title, subject, abstract)
• If you only search for results where your most
important terms appear in the title or abstract, you
will likely have fewer results to evaluate and they
should be more relevant.
34. Searching within facets
Once you have
your initial search
results, you can
use the filters
offered to limit
your results
further by date
published,
subject area, type
of publication and
more.
35. So in summary:
Narrowing your search - Summary
– Focus your search copyright AND photographs
– Proximity searching negligen* w/5 PwC
– Phrase searching “duty of care”
– Excluding terms property NOT intellectual
– Faceted searching e.g. in ABSTRACT only
Terminology and symbols vary, depending on which
database or catalogue you are using
Summary
36. Effective Searching
Define your
information need
• What types
of resource
do you
need?
• Identify
where to
search.
• Identify
your key
concepts.
Broaden
your search
• Be compre-
hensive.
• Ensure
nothing is
missed un-
necessarily.
• “Cast your
nets wide.”
Narrow your
search
• Be focused.
• Exclude any
‘noise’.
• Ensure you
can use
your reading
time most
efficiently.
• “Use the
right nets.”
Evaluate
your results
• Identify
gaps.
• Assess un-
expected
results.
• Review
search
terms with
new knowl-
edge.
Make your
results work for
you
• Be efficient
with your
time.
• Search
alerts.
• Citation
searching.
“15299l” https://pixabay.com/en/darts-dart-board-bull-s-eye-game-102919/
CC 0
This is about you controlling the context in which search results are included, and identifying and excluding those results which are ‘odd one’s out’ – they mention the search terms you have chosen, but they don’t fit in with the overall pattern or topic you are interested in sufficiently enough to warrant your time and effort.
Be aware of some differences or additional features in specific databases
Be aware of some differences or additional features in specific databases
Be aware of some differences or additional features in specific databases
Do not dwell on this.. An important (and perhaps obvious) part of the process, but one that may not be an obvious or easy answer initially – you often have to search first in different places to see what gives the best range of results… and then from your results list see what subject terms or filters are offered based on those results.
As postgraduate researchers, there is not just a pressure to “find some stuff”… but you will feel you are expected to have found and read everything which is of relevance to your topic of research, and read around the edges to clearly define your topic.
Reading everything is, of course, an impossible task. So what you actually need to have is the confidence, (for meetings with supervisors, conference papers you deliver, articles your write… and then your final completed thesis, your viva and any subsequent direction your career takes you…) the confidence that you have found (and read) everything of importance, and an ability to articulate and demonstrate why you are confident you have searched for that information effectively.
DEFINE
- This has two motivations:
In terms of form, you must search in the most appropriate places, having decided the type and amount of information you want based upon your information need
In terms of subject, you are also defining your boundaries. It is likely that for any extended piece of research you are going to have multiple ‘contexts’ and ‘avenues’ to explore – and there may be other linked areas you are not interested in. Having a broad understanding of the topic may also help inform your choice of search term, as well as helping you identify those areas you wish to exclude from your search.
BROADEN
Metaphor – cast your net wide to make sure you can capture as much as possible that ‘might’ be relevant, and ensuring you aren’t missing anything which might potentially be useful.
- this is about being comprehensive, rather than focussing to precisely to start with.
This is about ensuring you don’t inadvertently miss anything.
NARROW
Metaphor: ensuring you are using the right nets for the job to allow those results you don’t want to slip through the holes, and those you are to be pulled onto your deck.
- once you have ensured your search can be as comprehensive as possible, you then need to make sure you focus it to help filter out the ‘noise’ and to just return the most relevant results.
This is about ensuring you use your reading time most efficiently.
EVALUATE
This is not about critically evaluating the content and conclusions of the articles.
This is about evaluating your results as a whole to identify problems with your search, or improvements you could make.
- rarely will you find all the most relevant and appropriate results in your first search. Using the results you do find to identify:-
Key authors, or opposing arguments, to explore further
Alternative and additional search terms
Specific topics you might want to focus on
New avenues of research topic or methodology
WORK FOR YOU
Finally, this is about using those key sources you locate to work for you:-
- providing you with a rich source of pre-selected earlier research from their own list of references
- citation searching to see how the ideas and research in the key sources you have identified have been taken and developed further