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Keywords are natural language words. You can think of them like the words you use in a typical online search engine. Select keywords by thinking about important words or phrases related to your research topic, as well as possible synonyms. Keywords are a more flexible way to search, because the database will pull results that have those words anywhere within the text. The potential downside to this is that you may receive results that aren't related to your topic. Most library search interfaces will default to this type of search.
When you conduct a basic search in the library catalog and most databases, the database will search your keywords in all searchable fields, which can include the title, abstract, database-supplied keywords, subject headings, and sometimes the full text of the resource. Some databases will allow you to limit your results to those that have your keyword in specific fields.
For example, you might try limiting the search to words found only in the title or abstract. Because the title and abstract contain the key concepts discussed in an article, if your keywords are in one of those locations there is a better chance the article is relevant to your research. This can be helpful if you are getting too many results and need an additional limiter.
Sometimes to narrow your search, it is helpful to search using subject terms instead of keywords. Subject headings are pre-defined words or phrases assigned by the database that describe the main topics of an article. Searching by subject heading is typically much more precise than searching by keyword, but it can be hard to guess the specific subject headings used by a database.
There are a couple of ways to find the subject headings related to your topic in a database. Some databases have an online thesaurus that lists the subject headings used in that database. You can use that thesaurus to select subject headings related to your topic. Alternately, if you start with a keyword search and identify a few relevant articles, you can check the subject headings used for those articles.
To conduct a subject search in the UNT Library Catalog, search using the "subject" option. Using subject terms will only find items indexed with that specific subject and can help avoid unwanted results, especially if your desired topic contains common words or words that can have multiple meanings.
In both keyword searching and subject searching, it is often necessary to continue narrowing your search to find relevant results. The UNT Library catalog offers many "facets" which make limiting your search easy and operate similarly to the search functions on many popular online retailers.
Keywords are words that carry content and meaning. The keywords in the research question "What is the feeding range of the blue whale in the Pacific Ocean?" are feeding range, blue whale and Pacific Ocean.
Think of words similar to your keywords in case a database doesn't use your original keywords. Synonyms for blue whale are baleen whale and Balaenoptera musculus.
When you don't know synonyms for your topic keywords, you can use online dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference books to find them. These databases are great places to find keyword synonyms.
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A Boolean search is a search using the words AND, OR and NOT between the keywords. These words have a special function when used in a database.
You can avoid doing multiple searches for variations on word endings using the truncation symbol * (the asterisk) in most databases. Entering the keyword "blue whale*" will look for both blue whale and blue whales.
You can put quotation marks around a set of words to limit the results to only those that have those words in that exact order.
If you want a literature review, add "AND review" to your keywords. To find a research study, add "AND study" to your keywords.
It's easier to use the Advanced Search in a database to enter your Boolean searches because it gives you multiple boxes with the Boolean operators between them. If you are using a search with multiple search strings, enter OR within the search boxes and AND between the search boxes, e.g., [blue whale OR Balaenoptera musculus] AND [feeding range OR feeding grounds] AND [Pacific Ocean].
Most databases include filters for things like data range, resource type, and language. Use filters as appropriate to remove less relevant results.
When you conduct a basic search in most databases, the database will search your keywords in all searchable fields, which can include the title, abstract, database-supplied keywords, subject headings, and the full text of the resource. Some databases will allow you to limit your results to those that have your keyword in specific fields.
For example, you might try limiting the search to words found only in the title or abstract. Because the title and abstract contain the key concepts discussed in an article, if your keywords are in one of those locations there is a better chance the article is relevant to your research. This can be helpful if you are getting too many results and need an additional limiter.