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AN 315 Maya, Inca, Aztec: Archaeology of Mesoamerica and the Andes: Searching Databases

This guide was created to complement AN 315 at USA.

General Database Information

How to plan a search strategy

You create searches by piecing building blocks together.

Each search term should be in its own separate text box.

Keep track of what search terms you have used together, so you don't repeat a combination you have done before.

Try the same searches in different databases. Different databases have different collections of journals, and they organize the articles differently.

JSTOR doesn't include any publications within the past 3-5 years. Do not use JSTOR to find the latest research.

How to revise a search you did

Needing to revise a search is part of the research process, even for experts. Expect some trial-and-error!

If you have way too many search results, limit your results by:

  • Adding filters for publication date, language, location.
  • Switching out a search term for one that is narrower. (Instead of searching for "school", search for "secondary school").
  • Adding another search term to your search. 

If you have too few or no search results, broaden your results by:

  • Removing a search term if you have been searching with multiple terms.
  • Switching out a search term for one that is broader. (Instead of searching for "Mobile, Alabama," search for "Alabama" or "American South").

Using the Database's Search Features

A database is searched by creating a search query. A search query is the combination of search terms, filters, and code that you type or select before clicking the search button.

  • Search terms are the words or phrases you want the search feature to look for.
    • Different databases search different parts of the text. Some databases, like JSTOR or newspaper collections, only do a full-text search. Their search features will only pull items that have those phrases in the actual text.
    • Other databases, like Academic Search complete, will search the actual text and the description of the text.
    • Many databases have multiple textboxes where you can enter multiple search terms at once. You do not need to put a term in every textbox.
  • Filters are selections built into the search feature. You can choose different filters to narrow down your results. Common filters are by publication date or by language.
  • Code includes any special terms or punctuation to add to your search. Some search features might not understand every code.
    • ? or * are commonly use to truncate your searches. This means that a search for: read* will really search for any word that starts with read. The articles you get shown might contain the words "read," "readers," or "readmit".

This is an example of a search in Academic Search Complete:

Screenshot of Academic Search Complete search function. Two terms are entered, "cooking shows" and "health behavior."

This is an example of a search in JSTOR:

Screenshot of a search query in JSTOR. The search terms are "Native American" and "Taxes."

Tricks for Choosing Search Terms

Using Your Research Question

You can turn your research question into search terms. This is a good way to make sure that you are looking for resources that relate to your paper's scope and topic. 

Identify the important words or terms in your research question. These are more likely to be the nouns that you use to specify the scope of your topic. 

Write out each important word/term as it appears in your research question. Next to the term, list synonyms. You can also search words that mean the same thing. Example research question: How did everyday people live in ancient Tikal?

Example keywords: Tikal, Maya Society, everyday people, life

Example search term possibilities:

Original term Narrower term Broader term Synonym/Step-to-the-side
everyday people women, childhood   "social inequality", "class"
life staple food, education, commerce    
Tikal   Classic Maya Cities urban planning,

 

Using an Article You Like

When you find an article you like, look at that article's keywords. These are the words the database attaches to the article. They are usually written underneath the article's listing in your search results. 

Different databases use different keywords. By reusing the keywords that the database likes, you are learning to speak that database's "language".

Using Search Suggestions

Some databases will give you suggestions for search terms when you start typing in a search term textbox. You can select those suggestions if you want. Of course, you can always type out your own text to search, but these suggestions are terms that the database absolutely recognizes. 

Often, the suggestions will be several terms in the same box, all separated by or. This means that the search engine will search for all those terms at once.

Always check before you select a string of terms. Some of the terms might not be equivalent for your research topic!