Getting Started
Regardless of the search tool being used, the development of an effective search strategy is essential if you hope to obtain satisfactory results. A simplified, generic search strategy might consist of the following steps:
- Formulate the research question and its scope
- Identify the important concepts within the question
- Identify search terms to describe those concepts
- Consider synonyms and variations of those terms
- Prepare your search logic
Search Techniques
There are various ways to combine search terms depending on the search engine / database in use using a number of search techniques. These are:
- Boolean logic i.e. Combining Boolean operators
- Truncation
- Exact phrase searching
- Field specification
- Thesaurus/Controlled Vocabulary e.g MeSH
