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Energy Management

Research Guide

OneSearch

  

Databases

Search Tips

This is the default of most databases and will return many results. 

The database will search for results where the keywords appear in the following fields:

  • Title,
  • Author,
  • Subject,
  • Publisher,
  • and Notes.

Keyword searching is a good place to start, especially when looking for words or terms to use for Subject Searching, but it also requires careful review to find resources that are most appropriate for your needs.

Items are tagged with precise words before they are entered into databases (this is called controlled vocabulary).

Using Subject Search will not give a lot of results but they are likely to be accurate.

Ask a Librarian for words to use when using Subject Searching.

Combine search words to produce specific search results:

  • AND reduces the number of results.
    • AND is useful when you want results that combine two ideas, e.g. students AND success.
  • OR broadens the number of results.
    • OR is useful when there are multiple ways to say one thing, e.g. education OR school OR teaching OR learning.
  • NOT limits your results.
    • NOT is useful if similar but irrelevant words keep appearing in your searches, e.g. education NOT training

Search for an exact phrase using quotation marks.

Using “student success in college” will search for those exact words in that exact order whereas not using quotes is essentially a keyword search and the database will search for those words in any order and in any combination.

Using quotes will give you less results but they will be more precise.

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