2. Research Guides

FREN 3621: Enlightenment and Revolution - Miller

Diagram about results generated from boolean operators

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Stephanie Morgan
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Subjects: Art, French, Italian

Building a Search String

To effectively use the library search, we will have to turn your research question into a search string. Most library, archive, and database searches do not work like a normal search engine -- typing out your research question as a full sentence will not work! On this page we will go through how you can use keywords, boolean operators, and filters to craft the best possible search.

Keyword Searching → Subject Searching

  • Take your research question and convert the most important topics and ideas into keywords and phrases.
    • Notice that phrases are in quotations. Make sure to consider alternate spellings (ex. color vs. colour).
Research Question
 
Potential Keywords

What role did the monarchy play in the French Revolution?
  • French, France, Revolution, "French Revolution"
  • "Louis XVI", "Marie Antoinette"
  • monarchy, absolutism, "royal authority" 

Boolean Operators

AND
 
OR
 
NOT

Generates results that contain both of your search terms. 

ex. "French Revolution" AND monarchy

Results will only show materials that contain "French Revolution" and monarchy. This can be used to specify terms that are critical to your research topic, such as limiting your search to a certain geographical region or discipline area.

AND is used to narrow your search & generates fewer, more specific results.

Generates results that contain one, or both, of your search terms.

ex. "Absolute monarchy" OR "Louis XVI"

Results will show materials that contain either "absolute monarchy" or "Louis XVI". This can be used for geographical locations or topics that may not have a standardized name, such as "United States" OR u.s. OR America OR "United States of America"

OR is used to broaden your search & generates greater, less specific results.

Generates results that do not contain one of your search terms.

ex. "French Revolution" NOT "American Revolution"

Results will show materials that contain "French Revolution" but do not mention "American Revolution". This can be used to exclude materials that may pertain to your subject, but are related to a region, discipline, or topic that you are not trying to study.

NOT is used to narrow your search & generates less results. BE CAREFUL. Sometimes NOT can exclude relevant results.

Crafting your Search

  • After figuring out your search terms, you can combine them with boolean operators to create an initial search string.
    • ("Louis XVI" OR "Marie Antoinette") AND (monarchy OR absolutism OR "royal authority") AND ("French Revolution" OR revolution)

Convert to Subject Searching

  • Use one of the item records from your keyword search to find the subject headings.
    • Replace your keywords with the applicable subject headings. Or, you can click on the link and all materials with that subject heading will appear.

Additional Pro Tips

  • You may notice that some database searches will try to autofill your keywords based off of their subject/topic tags. Try out their suggestions. The terms they give you may result in different search results -- sometimes they work better than the search terms you developed on your own.
  • You can put an asterisk to include any number of characters after a root word. ex. educat* will include educate, education, educator, etc. as part of the search. However, keep in mind the * will include any phrase afterwards, so it may include things that are not related to your topic.
Subjects: French
Tags: french, history