This page gives you some tips on how to search for articles in databases. Databases are like search engines that only search particular sets of academic journals, usually on the same general topic. Historical Abstracts, which you'll see on the next page of the guide, only searches in history journals, for example. You may not always need to use a database for your research--sometimes the combination of Google Scholar and the search box on the library home page will be enough. When you're not finding what you need that way, try a database. Databases only "understand" searches when they're formatted in a specific way, which the box below explains. That means they can be more complicated to use, but it sometimes also means that you'll get more specific, better results by using them. If you're looking for a primary source, you may also want to use one of our primary source databases, which work the same way but have digitized versions of primary documents available in them. Note: You'll discover that a lot of our databases look identical. That doesn't mean they're searching the same journals, or that you're on the wrong website. It just means that the same company owns a lot of the databases, so the interface is often the same.
If you are starting your search, trying use keywords, rather than full sentences.
Examples:
For example, a researcher who isn't working on research about CRISPR and health will probably not use a phrase like "non-health use" in her article. She would probably use keywords that have to do with what she IS researching, rather than what she's not. So if you're working on non-health uses of CRISPR, try to find a specific use before searching the databases.
Example:
If you are searching for a phrase, such as gender history or queer philosophy, you can put the entire phrase in double quotes. This will tell the database to only find results that contain the exact phrase, rather than one or two of the individual words.(If it's a common phrase, like heart attack, try the phrase without the quotes first).
If you have two or more words or concepts that you want to find, use AND (must be capitalized) to tell the database to only look for items that contain both words.
Often, there is more than one way to talk about your topic. For example, you might want to find articles on climate change or global warming, etc. Some phrases might be better than others. If you want to try looking for multiple variations of the same word or phrase in a single search, use OR (all capitals) to tell the database to find material with any of the words you've included.
You can even get fancy and use both AND and OR: