If you'd like to use the "Search Tips" box on your guide, we recommend that you:
The large number of citations in many catalogs and databases requires one to limit otherwise broad or general searches in order to retrieve a manageable and pertinent number of results. Conversely, overly narrow search terms can return too few results. One way of solving both problems is to use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), which allow one to limit or expand searches depending on his or her needs.
For example, a search for relevant search term AND relevant search term will return items that contain both relevant search term and relevant search term:
Relevant search term OR relevant search term returns items that contain either relevant search term or relevant search term or both:
Relevant search term NOT relevant search term returns items that contain relevant search term but not relevant search term:
Phrase searching:
An important strategy for one to employ when researching phrasal concepts (e.g., "relevant search term") or conducting known-item searches for titles:
Nested Searching:
When pairing two or more keywords with another keyword, it is helfpul to "nest" the former terms within a larger Boolean search.
Truncation and Wildcards:
Most catalogs and databases enable users to search variations of keywords by using truncation (*) or wildcard (e.g., ?, $, !) symbols.