WGS 2123 Intro Women's & Gender Studies: Searching Tips

Different databases offer different options to limit the list of search results, including but not limited to:

• Full Text
• Scholarly or Peer Reviewed
• Publication  or Document Type (journal articles, book reviews, reports)
• Published Date

The database will offer ways to toggle these limiters on or off (i.e., through clickable checkboxes, icons, radio buttons, etc.).

For articles that are not available in full text, use the InterLibrary Loan service.

Example Search Terms

Here are some example search terms you can use to contruct keyword or subject searches. Note the use of the terms AND and OR: These terms combine different keywords/subject terms to broaden the search results.

• benevolent sexism
• businesswomen AND mentoring
• domestic abuse
• femininity OR feminism
• feminism AND mass media
• female sexuality
• female relationships in the workplace OR sex role in the work environment
• gender roles AND marriage
• gender AND aging
• gender AND self esteem
• gender identity in education
• gender identity law and legislation
• mass media AND women
• marriage equality
• reproductive rights
• sexual orientation
• women AND politics
• Women personnel AND military
• sexual harassment AND military
• same-sex marriage

• Be prepared with synonyms in case your original search produces no results. If the database offers a link to a thesaurus or subject terms tab, use it to locate additional or related words for your search terms.
• Pay attention to search tips or help screens provided by each database. Take the time to learn how to use the tool - it will help you to avoid frustration!
• Remember that most databases allow for Boolean Searching. This allows you to combine search terms with the operators AND, OR, and NOT. 
  • Use AND to combine different aspects of your topic. This will narrow your search results.
  • Use OR to account for synonyms and related terms. This will expand your search results.
  • Use NOT to exclude a word or phrase from the search results. This will narrow your search results.
• Truncation is also useful for bringing back all relevant results. (Example: type counsel* to bring back documents containing the words "counsel," "counseling," or "counselor.")
• Review the database search screen for a Thesaurus or Subject Terms tab or link.
• Review articles, the references with this article, look for sections listing key words or subject terms, and relationships to your focus on the topic.

Keyword Searching

Many electronic systems, like databases, library catalogs, and Google, default to "Keyword" searching. Keyword searching uses "natural language," or words that a user might use in their everyday speech or writing. Keyword terms can appear anywhere or any field in a record, such as title, author, subject, note, etc. The meaning of the words are not considered. For example, the terms "heavy metal" could pull results related to music or to metallic elements.

Keyword search results are usually grouped by relevance, with the best matches near the top of the list.

Tips

• Use keyword searching and the Boolean operator AND to combine an author and keywords in the title of one of their works.
• Group terms by enclosing them within quotation marks.
• Form complex queries by using multiple keywords and using Boolean operators to link them.

Subject Searching

A "Subject" search uses subject terms or subject headings to retrieve search results. Subject terms/headings are terms that are used to define or describe the information within the given database or searching system. Subject searching is targeted searching that uses specific terms or phrases that are highly relevant to the topic. It will locate all records based on the subject term, excluding other fields (e.g., "title," "notes," "all text," etc.). This ensures that the results are related and focused on the subject search or the desired topic, which saves the researcher time.

Controlled Vocabulary

Most databases use a controlled vocabulary to facilitate subject searching, organize information, and make browsing more efficient and specific to chosen terms. The database's Thesaurus or Subject Terms area will contain an alphabetical listing of its controlled vocabulary terms. For instance, the database Academic Search Premier offers a "Subject Terms" tab, and the MLA International Directory database features a "Thesaurus" tab or "Names as Subjects" tab. Enter terms in the Browsing box to see how the database recognizes them. You can then incorporate subject terms into your database searches to retrieve more precise results.