A search strategy will help focus your search, allow the database to retrieve more relevant results, limit the results to a more manageable number, and ultimately save you time.
The following is just one of several search strategies that you can use to locate articles within library databases.
1. Break topic down into narrower concepts.2. Find synonyms/keywords for each concept.3. Combine search terms and concepts.4. Apply database limiters.5. Review, revise and refine as needed-consider a simpler or more complex search.
These steps are fluid. Their order may vary by topic, database, or researcher.
If you are confident that you have enough keywords to represent your research topic, then you can enter those words directly into the database search box(es) as shown in the following:
The same search can be represented in one search box as the following:
(Patient* OR elder* OR Inpatient* OR Outpatient*) AND (fall* or accident* or slip*)
