You may be wondering why you should learn how to create search strings...

Search strings allow you to include more than one idea or keyword in the same search, meaning that you can do more complex searches and also save a lot of time.    An important function of a search string is to give you more control over how the computer searches.  In this lesson (lesson 3), we have seen how all of the different search techniques - Boolean operators, parentheses, truncation and phrase searching - give you control over different aspects of your search.

 

What's involved in putting together a search string?

There are four main steps: 1. Identify your research question 2. Identify the main ideas or keywords 3. Brainstorm for more keywords 4. Put together some search strings using the   brainstormed keywords (see checklist on next screen)

The next screen will show you an example using these steps....