Social Work: Search Strategy

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Library resources for research and study in Social Work

Search Strategy & Tips

  1. State your topic or research question in your own words. Natural language searches often work well in OneSearch, but for individual subject databases:
  2. Identify the most important keywords (usually the substantive nouns) or short, commonly used phrases.
  3. Think of variations (singular, plural) and synonyms for your terms.
  4. Create an initial search statement using connectors or logical operators (especially AND, OR) and, if appropriate, wildcards.
  5. Try it out in one or more databases.
  6. Look for other good keywords and subject terms in search results.
  7. Try revised searches until you're satisfied with the results.
  8. Depending on the volume of results, consider narrowing or broadening your topic.
  9. If you're having difficulties, contact us.

Find more (broaden your results) with OR and wildcards:
   dementia or alzheimer's   (finds either term)
   teen* or adolescen*   (finds teen, teenager, adolescent, adolescents, etc.)

Find less (narrow your results) with AND:
   homelessness and alcoholism   (finds both terms)

Find less with NOT:
   twelve step* not alcohol*   (excludes records that mention alcohol, alcoholism, etc.)

Sample search statement:
   (child abuse or child neglect) and prevent*

Limiters can help to improve the relevance and focus of results:

  • Narrow results with standard  limiters (peer-reviewed, date; document type; language; etc.)
  • Some databases allows quotation marks for an "exact phrase"
  • In databases for a specific subject discipline, look for specialized limiters (such as age groups in PsycINFO)
  • Try restricting some terms to the title or abstract field
  • Try restricting some terms to the subject or descriptors field. Subject terms can vary from database to database, but using them usually improves relevance so look for them in results displays and detailed records. Some databases include a subject terms thesaurus.

 

  • Look for different, relevant keywords or subject terms to try
  • Simplify your search by removing less critical search terms or limiters
  • Expand some terms to the all text or full text field, if provided
  • Try a different database or OneSearch

Sample Searches

  • Subject terms, while helpful for focusing results, sometimes are not assigned until after the initial posting of a record. You also may want to try using subject terms as simple keywords (i.e., without requiring them to appear in the subjects field).
  • Don't limit to full text when you're exploring a topic in depth. You'll miss full text that's available via Find It @ UHCL.
  • When looking for research studies, trying relevant keywords in the Abstract field often finds more than looking for the term "research" in the Classification Code Title field; you may want to try both approaches
  • When you limit a term to the Subjects field, the Classification Code Title field will be included, also

Seaches that use subject terms, keywords with wildcards limited to the abstract field, plus limiters for scholarly peer-reviewed journals

Seach that includes research in the CT Classification Code Title field

Searches using a variety of subject terms, keywords with a wildcard, and limiters for scholarly peer-reviewed journals

Enter your search terms, and select a desired category:

  • Everything -- most library resources, both online (UHCL) and physical (UHCL, UH, and UHD)
  • UHCL Books and Media -- Neumann Library and Pearland Library's books, ebooks, and physical and digital media
  • All UH Books and Media -- UH, UHCL, and UHD physical books, DVDs, and CDs
  • Articles -- peer-reviewed journal articles, newspaper articles, and more
  • Course Reserves -- searchable by course or instructor
  • Institutional Respository @ UHCL -- digitized scholarship and creative works produced and owned by the UHCL community

Simple search example

When searching Everything or Articles, natural language often works well.

Examples:

  • how climate change affects polar bears
  • how to motivate people to exercise

For Books and Media, keywords or short, common phrases usually work better. Use quotation marks for an "exact phrase."

Examples:

  • "climate change" "polar bears"
  • motivation exercise

You also can search a digital object identifier (DOI) or  International  Standard Book Number (ISBN) for a known item.

Examples:

  • 10.1007/s00442-017-3839-y
  • 0838987753

For more complex searches like (climate change OR global warming) AND polar bears, use Advanced Search.

Once you have a set of results, select and apply relevant filters (e.g., peer-reviewed journals, available online, etc.) on the left of the screen.

Subpage

  • Video Tutorials (includes The Power of AND and OR in Research Databases, Get Full Text for an Article, and more
Subjects: Social Work
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