There are many types of database you might use in your research.

These range from general library or archive catalogues

like WorldCat, to more specialist databases:

 Web of Science: a database indexing articles on the arts,

humanities and social sciences.
 Scopus: a database listing journal articles in social, health and
physical sciences.
 PubMed: a database listing publications in life sciences.
 JSTOR: a database of books, primary sources and journal
articles on a range of subjects.

Whether you’re looking for something more specialist or searching

a library catalogue, you’ll need to make sure your search is targeted
in order to find what you’re looking for.

Searching effectively

To make your search as effective as it can be, you need to

understand how to ask your database the right questions. Unlike a
typical search engine like Google, which will use its own algorithm
to find you the results, these databases allow you to set your own
rules for what is important.

Search engines and databases use special terms known

as Boolean operators (AND, OR and NOT) to allow you to
combine search terms in different combinations. You may have
seen these operators before as buttons or drop-down menus,
especially in databases. These operators are extremely powerful,
and using different combinations of them can drastically change the
results that are generated.

Take a look at some examples of how they work:

AND
AND reduces the number of results found, and is usually used to
combine different concepts to make your results more relevant. For
example, this diagram demonstrates only wanting information about
air pollution and asthma.

The shaded area in the middle represents what will be searched for
when you combine two separate searches for air pollution AND
asthma. This search will only return sources where both air pollution
and asthma are referenced.

OR
OR increases the number of results found, and is usually used to
combine synonyms to make your results more comprehensive. For
example, when wanting information about air pollution and carbon
emissions.
The shaded area inside both of these circles represents what will be
searched for when you combine two separate searches for air
pollution OR carbon emissions. This search will return all sources
for air pollution, and all sources for carbon emissions, including
those instances where a source references both searches.

NOT
NOT reduces the number of results you find by excluding a search
term. It should be used with caution, in case you inadvertently
exclude relevant references. For example, you may use this search
when wanting information about diesel engines, but specifically not
wanting information relating to petrol engines.
The shaded area shows what will be searched for when you search
for diesel engines NOT petrol engines. This search will return all
sources relating to diesel engines except those that also reference
petrol engines.

You may find that the search engine you use prefers a hyphen (-) to
be used instead of the NOT operator. For example, “diesel engines
- petrol engines”.