…such as PsycINFO, is a lot
more useful and powerful than you might at first realise. For a start, it is a
helpful way of remembering which search terms / search combinations you have
already tried. It will show how many results each search gave you and you can
quickly determine which words and phrases are giving you the best results. For
more advanced searchers – for example, if you are currently doing a literature
review for your dissertation or thesis – it can be a powerful way of building
your searches.
Building
searches is much like putting up a building. Firstly you acquire your building
materials (i.e. a collection of individual words and phrases) and only once you
have got the raw materials do you then put them together. For example, if you
are searching for information on autistic young males in special education you
would begin by producing separate lists of words and phrases for autistic (e.g.
autism, ASD, developmental disorders), young males (e.g. boys, infants,
adolescents) and special education (e.g. special needs, special education
students, special schools). You would then search for these words or phrases individually
(one at a time), and then, using the search history, see which specific words or phrases bring up
the most / best results and then use that information to guide you in how best to combine them e.g. developmental disorders AND young males AND special schools.
The search history will then keep a record of what does and doesn’t work and
enable you to search in a logical and systematic way.
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