Engineering: Sharpen Your Search

LOOK AT YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION

Sample: Is the Corps of Engineers at fault with the collapse of the levees in New Orleans? Should we be rebuilding the levees at all? What is the question asking? Do you have any preexisting knowledge of the topic?

IDENTIFY KEY CONCEPTS
Look for words and phrases that express the main ideas. 

Is the Corps of Engineers at fault with the collapse of the levees in New Orleans? Should we be rebuilding the levees at all? 

IDENTIFY ANY RESTRICTIONS
Look for information like locations, dates, demographics. These can be used as part of the searching or refining. 

 Is the Corps of Engineers at fault with the collapse of the levees in New Orleans? Should we be rebuilding the levees at all? 

USE SYNONYMS TO EXPAND RESULTS 

Using synonyms for search terms can retrieve additional relevant results.

E.g. Collapse = break, breach, topple, fall
 

Combine keywords and phrases with AND

AND narrows searches to results containing all included keywords. For example:

 “hurricane katrina” AND levees |  "new orleans levees" AND engineer*

cybersecurity AND data

Search similar ideas with OR

OR broadens searches to include any of the search terms. Also, use OR for synonyms. For example:

"new orleans levees" AND collapse OR breach

robot OR 

Use NOT to exclude terms from your search results
Using NOT excludes results that you do not want included in your search, providing narrower results. I

"new orleans levees" AND "hurricane katrina" NOT "hurricane rita" | "new orleans levees" AND engineer* NOT fema

REVIEW AND REFINE RESULTS

• Refine by Database Tools: Use date range, publication type, subject filters.
• Match Assignment Needs: Consider required article types, age, and quantity.
• Expand with Citations: Explore "cited by" and "cited in" references.
• Leverage Subject Terms: Use keywords from the database to refine your search.

PHRASE SEARCH

Use quotation marks for exact phrases. Otherwise, your search finds each word alone, leading to many irrelevant results.

“New orleans levees” |  “corps of engineers”  |  “hurricane katrina”

TRUNCATED SEARCH

Use an asterisk * to shorten a term to include variations. 

engineer* = engineers, engineering, engineered  |  ethic* = ethic, ethics, ethical, ethically

*Not every word is conducive for truncation. For example, stor* will return results with story, store, storm, and storage.

WILDCARD SEARCH

Wildcards maximize searches. Use "?" for a single letter: wom?n finds woman & women. Similarly, engineer? finds engineers but not engineered/engineering.

USE A CITATION MANAGER

Citation managers like Sciwheel and Zotero store citations & articles, and are easily shared with collaborators.

IT TAKES MORE THAN ONE SEARCH

Be patient and give yourself ample time to explore your topic in different ways and in various databases.

LOOK OUT FOR MULTI-USE ACRONYMS

Acronyms that have more than one use can return large numbers of irrelevant results.

SST = Supersonic transport, Smart systems and technologies, sea surface temperature

DATABASE SEARCH TIPS

Most databases offer platform-specific tips. Check for helpful guides or contact me for assistance. 🙂