Library databases are not answer machines. You cannot type your research question into a library search engine and get a bunch of articles that answer it. That is not how databases work.
Instead, you need to think like a computer. Whatever you type into the search box, the database is going to match it.
You need to think strategically about your research question and what words might appear in articles that would be useful to you. This is where keyword searching comes in.
To choose keywords for your search, look at your research question:
How does the local food movement in the United States affect the environment?
Choose words from within your question that are the most important to your search. So, in this example, you would choose "local food movement," "United States," and "environment."
You can then use these words to search any of our databases. You might try typing "local food movement" in the first box and "environment" in the second search box. To narrow your results even further, try typing "United States" in the third search box.
You can also try using alternative search terms for these keywords.
You are probably wondering why you would need to use alternative keywords. Sometimes switching the words you use while doing a search can actually pull up more results!
Take each of your keywords and try to come up with synonyms for them. List as many as you can. Here is an example:
Use some of these alternative search terms. Mix and match when doing a search to see what brings up the most relevant information.
You can also look at the subject terms assigned to an article to find more relevant search terms.
You can combine your search terms to create several potential search strategies to find relevant results. For phrases, use " " or ( ) to keep words together & in order.
Search Example 1: United States AND environment AND "local food movement"
Search Example 2: Midwest AND "climate change" AND locavores
Search Example 3: Iowa AND "greenhouse gases" AND "local food" OR "local food movement"
Search Example 4: (Iowa OR Midwest) AND (environment OR "climate change") AND "sustainable food system"
Combining keywords using AND, OR, & NOT is called Boolean searching. To learn more, check out our LibGuide on Keyword Searching.
Some databases tell you if an article exists, but do not provide full-text access to the article.
To learn how to look for full-text access in another database, in print, or online, watch this video. It covers the 3 steps to finding full-text articles: