Building Search Skills

Before moving into library subscription databases, understanding how to build a search that can used within these resources is vital. There are a few ways you can get started with building a search, or sometimes called search statement. All the methods you can use start with selecting your topic and identifying the key terms within your topic. Watch the video below: Creating Search Statements: Find Keywords. This video might serve as a refresher for you, or be brand new information.

This video is the first in a three-part series of Creating Search Statements. This video introduces the concept of selecting keywords from your research topic or question in order to search for library resources.

Finding your keywords is key to getting started. How you move forward from this point is ultimately what works best for you. In some cases that includes using a concept map to collect and organize your search words, other times it is a journal with a running list of searches tried and successfully used. The videos linked below are recommend if you are brand new to building a search statement.

Creating Search Statements - Next Steps

Boolean Operators

When building searches you can use in a database, correct and well placed Boolean operators is key. Boolean operators, most often: AND and OR, also include NOT and use the idea of Nesting, to build strong searches that can both narrow and widen your search results. The following video is an overview of how these operators function within a search statement.

Defining AND, OR, and NOT

• AND - use to combine key terms or concepts to refine results
• OR - use to group related terms or synonyms to expand results
• NOT - use to remove key terms or concepts to refine results

Learn how to use search operators AND, OR, and NOT to build stronger searches.

Take a look at the two topics below and the example search statements built. Keep in mind that each search statement can look different depending on the researcher, and as you begin searching databases and reviewing available literature, your search statement is likely to change.

Example #1

Topic: How are college students using social media for advocacy and to create social change in their communities.

Using a concept map, pictured below, the following key concepts were identified from this topic: "college students", "social media", and "social change". In considering related key terms and synonyms, the following terms were added to the concept map: "young adults", youth, and students (grouped with "college students"), Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter (grouped with "social media"), and advocacy, protest, and "social reform" (grouped with "social change").

Sample Search Statement

("college students" OR "young adults" OR students) AND ("social media" OR TikTok OR Instagram) AND ("social change" OR protest OR "social reform")

Example #2

Topic: The role of mentoring in supporting the leadership development of African American women.

Instead of using a concept map to identify key terms in this example, consider the lists below. This is a less visual option, but no less useful in developing your search statement.

Concept Group One

• mentoring
• mentor
• coaching

Concept Group Two

• "leadership development"
• "professional development"
• "career development"
• "leadership growth"
• "career advancement"

Concept Group Three

• "African American women"
• "Women of color"
• "Black women"

Sample Search Statement

(mentor* OR coaching) AND ("leadership development" OR "career development" OR "leadership growth") AND ("African American women" OR "Women of Color")