The library's databases are best searched using keywords rather than long sentences or phrases. It is common to use full sentences or lengthy phrases while using a search engine like Google. It is important to note that library databases are not Google; they have their own way of searching for information. Using keywords and boolean searching is the start to coming up with successful searching strategies.
Here are a few ways you can brainstorm keywords for your topic:
The archetype and cultures: Use the name of the archetype and the two cultures you have chosen as keywords. For example, if you are researching the Thunder God in Greek and Norse cultures, some initial keywords might be: thunder god, god of thunder, Greek, Greece, Norse, etc.
Identify main concepts about the archetype, both specifically and generally, including concepts from the two cultures. Continuing with the Thunder God example, some additional concepts and keywords might be: Zeus, Thor, Mjolnir, hammer, thunderbolt, etc.
Feeling stuck? Try using a thesaurus to look up synonyms, or use a brainstorming strategy like mind mapping to see how the concepts in your topic are related.
Once you have your keywords identified, it's time to try some searches! You can combine the keywords in various ways to create different searches to use in the library's databases. Here are some tips to help you combine your keywords and create effective searches.
Use Boolean Operators such as AND, OR, and NOT. The AND tells the search engine to only bring back results that use both search terms: cats AND dogs. The OR tells the search engine to bring back results that have either search term: cats OR dogs. The NOT will exclude the word or phrase that follows it: cats NOT dogs. Using parentheses can also help, like this: cats AND (dogs OR birds).
Use quotation marks around any important phrases, like a person's name. For example, if you are researching the Thunder God, search for the phrase like this: "thunder god" so that the search engine will look for the two words next to each other in that exact order, rather than the two individual words separately in the article.
Use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard. The asterisk tells the search engine to find any variation of the word that starts with the same root. For example, if one of your keywords is biology, search for it like this: biolog*. The search engine will look for the words biology, biologic, biological, etc.
Using the keywords that were brainstormed above, here are some examples of what a good search strategy would look like:
Any of these search strategies would be good to try in a library database. In the next few sections of the guide, we will look at some specific databases you can use for your research.
