When searching online, various words are used to help broaden or narrow your search. Here are a few tips you should know before searching any academic database:
Boolean operators: Most internet and electronic databases follow the rules of boolean logic. Boolean logic refers to the relationships (connections or differences) between different search terms. The most common boolean operators are:
AND - used to narrow a search and establish more relevant results by linking keywords together (e.g. "behavioural" and "psychology").
OR - broadens a search and get more results. Typically used for synonyms and words with variant spellings (e.g. "self-actualization" and "self-identity").
NOT - use to narrow a search and get more relevant results (e.g. "behaviouralism" not "humanism").
Truncation: used to find similar words with different endings
e.g. human* searches "human and humans"
e.g. educat* searches "education", "educate", "educational" etc
asterisk (*) searches for various different endings of a word in most databases (including York University), however LexisNexis uses an exlamation mark (!).
Contains information on the fields of social work and human services from 1977 to present. The database provides exceptional coverage of over 500 journals in all areas of the profession, including theory and practice, areas of service, social issues, and social problems.