Library & Cultural Services: Skills at Library: Advanced Search Techniques

Searching for information can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. In order to find relevant sources for your assignment or research, you might need to sift through thousands of search results and this can lead to information overload. Advanced search techniques can help you take control your search results and quickly navigate to the most relevant information.

You can think of advanced search techniques as a vehicle that can take you to the information you need, but before 'driving off into the sunset,' you first need to know where you are headed! What kind of information do you require? What 'roads' or databases will lead you there? Before you start searching, make sure you know what you are looking for. Create a search strategy to guide your journey and help you find the best sources.

This section on advanced search techniques covers:

Using Boolean operators
Phrase searching
Truncation and wildcards
Proximity searching
Citation chaining

Click to expand presentation: Advanced search techniques

Already confident in your search skills? Continue to the next section on 'Unlocking information' or return to the Skills at Library homepage to select another lesson.

Here's some quick tips to get you started:

Plan your search by creating a search strategy.
Make use of the advanced search filters within the database or platform you are using.
Allow time for trial and error as you refine your search.
Use Boolean operators to expand or limit your search.

Boolean operators

AND narrows your search.

Combine your keywords with AND to make sure that they all appear in your search results. Venn diagram A AND B

For example, searching for 'fake news AND media' will make sure your results contain both of these words. The more keywords you add with AND, the narrower your search will be, and the fewer results you will get. For example we could add to this search to look for 'fake news AND media AND elections'.

In some databases, the search will imply AND between keywords automatically. However, this doesn't apply to all databases, and for clarity and to make sure you're getting the best possible results, it is best to use the AND operator between keywords.

OR broadens your search.

Use OR between your keywords to include any or all of them appear in your results. Venn diagram A OR B

You can search for alternatives and synonyms at the same time by using OR. This will broaden your search and give you a larger number of results. It will also save you time, as you won't have to run separate searches with your synonyms, you can search for them all at once.

For example, you could search for 'football OR soccer' to find results related to the sport, regardless of how it has been described by the author. You could also use it to search for acronyms, such as 'genetically modified organism OR GMO' or for alternative spellings such as 'colour OR color'.

NOT narrows your search.

NOT is used to exclude keyword(s) from your search. Venn diagram A NOT B.

If you are getting lots of irrelevant results, and there is a certain keyword you do not want to see in your results, you can try excluding it with NOT. However, proceed with caution, as you don't want to miss out on any useful results!

For example, you could search for 'media NOT radio' or 'fish NOT freshwater'.

Advanced searching requires intermediate information literacy skills, and should build on an existing knowledge of the types of sources you need and a clear a search strategy. Continue learning with Skills at Library to develop advanced skills.

Want to learn more?

Attend a Skills at Library open workshop. We offer an 'Advanced search skills' workshop regularly, so keep an eye out for upcoming sessions. Attending workshops will give you an opportunity to practice skills, learn alongside your peers, and get instructor feedback.
If you haven't already, complete our Academic Skills Audit to assess your current information and academic skills and discover resources to support your development.
Complete the Online search strategies learning pathway on LinkedIn Learning and earn a badges for your digital CV.
Explore the Literature search section of the Skills@Essex Moodle course.

Except where otherwise noted, this work by University of Essex Library and Cultural Services is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.