- Use AND to combine your concepts, e.g., grandparents AND poverty
- Use OR to combine synonyms, related terms, e.g., elderly OR seniors OR aged
- Use the * (asterik ) to search for the root word and any ending, e.g., parent* will retrieve parent, parents, parenthood, parenting.
- Look at the subject headings on the full record for an item-these can help you generate new keywords, concepts, etc.
- Try using the Advanced Search to combine keywords and subject headings, author and title, etc.
Sample Subject Headings-Use the Advanced Search, change "Any field" to "Subject"
- aging; aging psychological aspects, etc.
- aged
- geriatrics
- gerontology
- longevity
- nursing homes
- older people, older people psychology, etc.
- social work with older people
A keyword search in Quicksearch will generally be a broader search than a subject search and can help you focus your topic and results. Examples:
- aging AND abuse
- older people AND mental health
- social services AND aged