When searching journal indexes, aim for maximum recall AND maximum relevance.
Here are some tips for effective searching:
- The default search option is always a keyword search. Use any words you think might be relevant.
- Look at the results, find some relevant ones and look at the subject headings assigned to those articles. The subject headings can confirm that you’re using the right terms or suggest different terms.
- There’s always an advanced search option. Do an advanced search limiting the search to the appropriate subject headings and you’ll probably get better results.
- Add and Canada when you’re searching in a multi-jurisdictional index if you only want Canadian material.
- Use synonyms or related terms to expand your search. Remember to put brackets around the search string if you're combining it with other terms. For example, search for: (prison OR jail) AND crime
- Use the Help feature to find out how to use truncation and wild cards, Boolean operators (and/or) and proximity operators to ensure that you are formulating your search correctly, as each database has its own search syntax.
Tip: If you have incomplete information about a journal article, enter the information that you do have into one of the journal indexes, and there’s a good chance that the complete information, including the citation, will come up.
