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HCM 4302: Health Care Policy, Organization and Policy: How To Search

Top 3 Searching Tips

 

 

1. Boolean operators are useful when tying more than one keyword together.

  • Health    AND    Fitness  

(Finds results with ALL of these words)

 

  •       Help       OR     Assistance

(Finds results with EITHER of these words)

 

  •           Primecare    NOT   Emergency Room

(Finds results WITHOUT the word after NOT)

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2. Always try synonyms when searching with keywords 

 

 o   Hip-hop, rap, urban music, or r&b

o   Children, kids, or toddlers

 

**Keep in mind: do not use long phrases when searching**

Ex. Don't search :The most affordable cars to purchase

Try searching: affordable cars

Ex. Don't search: Major symptoms people experience with the common cold

Try searching: common cold symptoms

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3. An article can still be useful even if your search terms do not appear within an article’s title.

The terms can still appear within the article itself.


 

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Extra Tip: Use Limiters!

Taking this extra step will increase your chances of finding what you're looking for.

Limiters: AGE, GENDER, ITEM TYPE, PUBLICATION DATE, ETC.

Using a database's limiter options can bring your results of 4.000,000 down to 1,000!

  (Ebsco Limiter Menu)

 **Each database will have its own limiter menu style.

 Searching Databases Prezi

Selecting the Right Number of Keywords

Triple Threat Searching Strategies