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Research 101

Build your search

Step 1. Identify main concepts of your topic or research question

If your research question was: How do dogs bond with humans?      Your main concepts would be:    dogs     bond     humans

Step 2. Brainstorm search terms

Consider your main concepts and brainstorm similar keywords or like terms. 

dog, dogs, canine, pet

bond, attachment, bonding

human, people, owner

Step 3. Combine similar words with OR

dog OR dogs OR canine 

bond OR attachment OR bonding

human OR people OR owner

Step 4. Combine main ideas with AND

(dogs OR canine) AND (bond OR attachment) AND (human OR people OR owner)

Search Builder

The Search Strategy Builder is a tool designed to teach you how to create a search string using Boolean logic. It is not a database and is not designed to input a search, you can cut and paste the results into a databases search box.

  Concept 1  AND  Concept 2  AND  Concept 3
              Type your main keywords here    
Search Terms Search Terms Search Terms

List related words for each keyword.

These can be synonyms, or they can be specific examples of the concept.

You can use single words, or phrases with quotation marks,
or truncated words with the *

OR

OR

OR

OR

OR

OR

OR

OR

OR



Now copy and paste the above Search Strategy into Discover Search or a database search box.

Need keyword inspiration for related terms? Search for your topic in an encyclopedia such as Credo Reference, or in Discover search and find the suggested Subject section on the right side of the results page. 

The Search Strategy Builder was developed by the University of Arizona Libraries (Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0).

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