Make Your Searching Count
It's unlikely that you'll find exactly what you need the first time you hit the "search" button. The key to successful searching is to be flexible and open to approaching your topic from different angles. Here are some key things to keep in mind:
- Express concepts in multiple ways. For example, data analysis, data analytics, and data mining all have related meanings but will return different sets of search results depending on which you use. Try different combinations of search terms to see what you find.
- Be on the lookout for new terms and concepts. Sometimes, during your searching, you'll come across a word or phrase you never knew existed, but that captures some aspect of your topic. Try incorporating it into your search!
- Use phrase searching to make your searches more specific. Most databases and search engines allow you to enclose words in quotation marks to find them only when they appear together in that order. For example, searching "my cat" will find I love my cat but not I love my dog and cat.
