Effective searching - structured databases
Many of the databases available in your library have been carefully indexed in searchable fields. This allows you to conduct a very precise search. While Internet search engines tend to search whole documents, indexed databases allow you to restrict your search to a specific part of the document. For example, you can search only for an author, a subject, or a keyword. You can also make your search more specific by using special terms known as logical (or Boolean) operators. These are 'AND', 'OR' and 'NOT'.
Careful use of these terms should help you to find only those documents that are relevant to your search. When using Internet search engines you may find that you get too many results, many of which are useless. Using Boolean operators to search an indexed database helps you to find relevant materials.
|
