GEOG 140, Human Geography (Rachel Chapman): Search Strategies

What search terms to use:

• Don’t search by using a long sentence. Instead, identify the main concepts related to your research question. For example, search for the highlighted words in the following topic: “what impact has globalization had on agriculture and the end of geography”
• Use AND to combine different concepts
  • globalization AND agriculture AND canada (note: you don’t need to capitalize proper nouns)
• Generate synonyms (which can be equal, broader, narrower, or opposite) for each concept:
  • agriculture: farming OR farms OR crops OR cultivation OR husbandry
• Use OR to combine similar concepts (some of which can be broader or narrower)
  • quinoa OR ancient grains OR quinua

How to finesse results:

• Use truncation symbols ( * OR $) to retrieve results with variant endings.
  • Most databases: “global*” would search for variant endings, including globalize, globalization, globalisation, etc.
  • UFV Classic Library Catalogue: “farm$” will search for variant endings, including farm, farms, farmer, farmers, farming
• Force a phrase search by using quotation marks, e.g.:  “language proficiency”  AND globalization (double quotes in most databases but single quotes in library catalog)
• Sort results by “date” or “relevance”
• Search using subject headings, descriptors, or author supplied keywords

Other tips:

• Search for respected or recommended authors
• Search for items listed in works cited.

With the research databases, you will have an option to filter the search results. There are four generally interchangeable terms for peer-reviewed articles: scholarly, academic, refereed, and peer-reviewed. To find peer-reviewed sources, look for one of those terms to limit or filter your search results.

If you want to voluntarily test your UFV Library skills, try out our Online Library Assignment!