This is the most important rule of searching. Think of words that are most important to your topic. For example, instead of searching for “Laws for teenagers using cell phones while driving,” use the words “laws, cell phones, teen drivers.”
It can be useful to think of a couple of synonyms for key words. Using the example above, you could use “mobile phones” as well as “cell phones.” Slang is often a problem in searches. For example, “car” will get different results than “automobile” in many databases
The connectors are used to link your key words to one another. AND will limit a search and should be used to link different things or concepts. OR expands your search and should be used to link similar things. NOT can be used to exclude words that are muddying your search.
