Avoid Natural Language
- Stick to keywords and phrases
Use Quotation Marks Around Phrases
- This ensures your search results will include the phrase, not the individual words found separately anywhere in the document.
Use the Advanced Search
- It will be located in different places depending on the database, but it will help refine and improve your search.
Use Limiters Provided by the Database to Narrow/Focus Your Results
- Limiters are usually found on the left or right hand side of your search results.
- Limit by source type, date of publication, reading level, subject, publication, and more
Use Boolean Operators
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/DQ_ZVq3QnMO3H6XW75IeN8VXdfZBQFvgdrGbzsP5pN9zhW253t-B6hPLFODwwqx42sVdVFyS0uaA6g0nnn9MaX_K5wycn1htmi6EsPokfpjy8r8MESXvlXvKF4ivJD12ycjlkICX1PJDMQDmA8QqUcIMNpBjrsOR86yTh8bcJwqw3LFW_4eIjNlv6Cf7sUQk=s2048)