In addition to Boolean searching, there are several techniques that can increase your success in database searching, including:

• Using limit or search options
• Enclosing phrases in quotes
• Subject searching
• Using truncation symbols
• Field searching

Limit and Search Options
Most database offer several search options. These vary by database, but some of the more common include limiting to full text, limiting to specific publications or date ranges. For example, look at the Basic Search screen in ProQuest. (From off campus you will need to log in with your last name and SID.)

You can specify the following criteria:

• Date ranges -- when the article was published
• Limit results to full-text articles only and/or scholarly journals

There are additional options. Click on the link, More Search Options. Here you can specify a variety of criteria, such as publication title, author, document type, etc. You can also exclude book reviews, which can be useful in ProQuest. There are many options under Document Type. Here are just a few:

• Cover story
• Editorial
  Feature
• Interview
• Book review
• Speech/Lecture
• Statistics
  

These same limiting options are also available in Ethnic NewsWatch and Alt-Press Watch, because these databases are also produced by the ProQuest company.

Phrase Searching
In most databases and Internet search engines, you will achieve better results if you enclose phrases in quotation marks. This insures that the database or search engine will look for your phrase as a phrase -- meaning the words have to appear in that exact order, with no words in between. If you search a phrase without putting quotation marks around the words, the database or search engine may intrepret your words as being either "ANDed" together or "ORed" together. In other words, it might pull up any document or site that contains all the words, or any of the words. Here are some examples of phrase searching:

"global warming"
"stem cell research"
"teenage pregnancy"
"sub-saharan africa"

Phrase searches are particularly effective if you're searching for proper names, poems, lyrics, or famous phrases, for example:

Proper names
"martin luther king"

Lyrics
"the long and winding road"

Poems
"whose woods these are i think i know"

Famous phrases
"these are the times that try men's souls"