Search and find - tips for media research

What you need to know

These tips are important when researching in the library catalogues and databases.

These tools will ensure that your literature search will deliver effective results.

The numbering does not refer to the order in which the steps must be taken, it is simply to give you a better overview of the individual research tools.

What you have to do

Getting started in your search with key terms
The most important thing to do before beginning your search is to correctly identify the key terms.
- The quality of your search results will depend on this.
- First create a word list with relevant key terms. Look for synonyms, for related terms and for broader and narrower terms.
- English is the academic language.
- There are various ways to create word lists:
  
  By using thesauri
  The following thesauri for different subjects are available:
  STW Thesaurus for Economics
  Psyndex Psycholy
  MeSH Medical Subject Headings PubMed
  
  The use of subject lexica
  Subject lexika in print can be found in the reading rooms, or digitally in the library catalogue (OPAC) or the BOSS search portal (Helpcard Internal link opens in the same window:BIB 20-020).
  Change the language into "English".
  
  Browse through documents you have already found
  Expand your list of key terms using literature you have already found. Use the terms and keywords you find there.
Wildcards and truncation
Look for the stem of the word and use a truncation symbol (e.g. * or $) so that all varient endings of that word will be retrieved.
Example: Contamina* will retrieve references containing the words: contamination, contaminants, contaminated, contaminate, contaminates
You can also use a wildcard in the middle of a word (e.g. ?) if you are not sure how to spell the word.
Example: colo?r will retrieve references containing the US spelling "color", or the UK spelling "colour"
- The wildcard symbols will vary according to the search tool you are using. Use the help page to find out what symbol to use.
Search (boolean) operators
By using boolean operators you can combine your terms:
"and"    usually results in fewer but more relevant hits by combining various terms (items containing both words will be searched for)
"or"       broadens your search, e.g. by using synonyms (items containing either or both words will be searched for)
"not"     limits the search to a particular topic (items containing the keyword will not be retrieved)
Phrase search
You already know which book or essay title you need? With the phrase search you can search for the book or essay title directly by entering the exact title in quotation marks.
Example: "electrochemical biosensor"
Keywords (Stichwort) and key terms (Schlagwort)
Searching by keywords only gives results if the term is in the title. Searching by key terms gives results for a particular topic.
A key term describes the content of a medium regardless of the title and language. The two types of search will result in a varying number of hits.
Filters and limits
You can limit your search further by using filters.
For example, you can filter the results by limiting your search in the library catalogue (OPAC) and the BOSS search portal to the location, or to e-books only.
- You should be very careful how you use the filter as you can exclude some relevant information.

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