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Research Process

Search Strategy

Ikea house directions memeSearching for things is not always as simple and straightforward as it seems. You likely have an idea about what it is that you want to find, but are far less likely to know how to put the pieces together to get what you are looking for. In the Search Strategy section you will learn about:

  • Keywords - These are the pieces you use to build your search. This page will teach you how to identify keywords as well as come up with alternative keywords when the one you thought was the right isn't.
  • Directions - The directions tell you how to put the pieces together. All search boxes know the same set of signals to get directions, so understanding how they take directions will make a difference in your search.
  • Rules - In the same way that rules exist to prevent you from doing the completely wrong thing, you can use rules to tell the databases what you want them to avoid.