There are many techniques you can use to search for information effectively. The ones you choose will depend on the level of study, types of information required, resources to be searched, and the complexity of your information need.

If using generative AI tools to find information, include as much detail and context as possible in your prompts as these tools use predictive patterns to generate responses. You can then add further details to refine your search if the initial results are too broad to be manageable, too narrow or seem to be biased.

You will often be given recommendations for textbooks but will be expected to search for others on occasion. 

If you already know the details, you can use the author's surname and a word from the title to find the book quickly in One Search.

Otherwise, search for the topic and use the 'Refine' options to restrict your search results as appropriate. For example, in One Search, you can limit results to a specific format, date range and more. 

Once you have a result that is of interest, click on the title, or format options, for more details. 

You will be expected to search for journal articles, or research studies in the later stages of your programme, if not before. This can be a complex process due to the large number of articles available. One option is to search traditional bibliographic databases. These operate on a content matching basis, so it is important to identify and separate the individual elements of your question before you start to search. Once you have separated your elements and decided on primary, and often alternative key words (or search terms), there are multiple ways in which you can enter your search. Options include Boolean logic, phrase searching and truncation.

Boolean searching is the term used when applying the words AND, OR, NOT as the equivalent of mathematical symbols to combine your search terms together. For example:

• AND instructs the search engine to display the results which contain all of the requested topics, so we use this to combine our elements, e.g. Sea temperature AND polar icecaps
• OR gives us the opportunity to generate more comprehensive result by including alternative descriptors and requires the system to look for any of the terms listed, e.g. sea OR ocean
• NOT, or more accurately AND NOT, is designed to exclude aspects of the topic from our search. In practice, this needs to be used with caution.
• Combined: you can integrate different aspects of your search together using a combination of terms, e.g.
  • (Sea OR ocean) AND (temperature OR level) AND (impact OR change OR effect) AND polar icecaps

Searching for an exact phrase can be useful when the individual words have multiple interpretations or can be used in a variety of contexts. The usual way to reflect an exact match is to add quotation marks to your search terms, e.g. “higher education”

Please check the ‘Help’ or equivalent guidance on each database for more information on phrase searching options and the symbol(s) to use.

It can be time consuming to enter multiple variants of the same word so most databases include an option to truncate words. This feature focuses on the root (start) of the word and, when the relevant symbol is added, searches for all of the variants. Be cautious with this option though as some variants may not apply to your search.

For example, educ* would generate results with the terms education, educator, educational and educated

Please check the ‘Help’ or equivalent guidance on each database for more information on truncation options and the symbol(s) to use.

When studying and conducting research, the focus is often on finding good quality journal articles as sources of evidence. However, other items, including policy papers, guidance documents, statistics and conference presentations and posters, can be equally relevant for our assignments. Searching for these though can often be time consuming. Our suggestions for good practice are:

• Follow any relevant links on your module sites and presentations
• Search for organisational websites and documents
• Be aware of, and search for, exact document titles, when known.
• See any item-specific recommendations in your subject guides

A range of techniques may apply. Consider the most appropriate for your topic and the type of information required.

Create a list of alternative descriptors for your key words/phrases.

Consider effective combinations of key words/phrases.