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EDUC1770 Student Culture in Higher Education

Writing a Search Statement

Keep a list of synonyms for possible keywords to be used in catalog and database searching, and keep track of which ones work best where. Consider other related terms.

Boolean searching: combining terms for efficient searching AND / OR / NOT

Immigration AND deportation  

Alien NOT extraterrestrial  

Illegal immigrants OR undocumented immigrants                                     

Truncation, stop words, and phrase searching:

You may use the following symbols in the online catalogue and most databases to narrow your searches:                  

Phrase searching: Put parentheses around the exact phrase you wish to find:

“World Health Organization”                                                      “Welfare to Work” AND California                  


Use an * after a root word to search for variants of that word.

Child* for child, children 

Employ* for employment, employee, employer, etc.

Use a ? to allow for one letter difference in spelling:

Wom?n   for woman, women, womyn

Stop words:

The catalogue and most databases ignore certain words that carry little meaning: 

the, and, an, it, etc.