Search Techniques
As you can see Google can be made a lot easier to use by simple techniques such as phrase and field searching. These same techniques can be used in most databases and catalogues.
For these examples we will only look at field searching. EbscoHost defaults to exact phrases and does not require quotes (" ") and the CDU catalogue currently does not support exact phrase searching. It can however be a valid technique in other databases we have not explored in these tutorials.
Again referring to our hypothetical research topic: “One of the hallmarks of a profession is its willingness to establish ethical standards to guide practitioners’ conduct. Discuss why ethical standards are so important to professions and professional life.”
Open up the search screen in Academic Search Premier
Use the same search as we used for the Boolean Logic techniques search, that is, profession* and ethic* and (code* or standard*)
If you only want to look at articles that are peer reviewed and that have the full text article attached you can limit the search to these items by ticking the boxes.
You can also limit the search to a particular journal. Look at this example limited to the journal Journalism Studies
Like Google EBSCOHost provides an advanced search option. By using the advanced search you can limit the search by author, journal and a variety of other methods.
For example you may know a reliable author in your field, for example Dr Peter Singer is an expert in bio-ethics and you can limit your search to articles by him. It can also be handy if you have a textbook and want to see if the author has updated their research by way of a journal article.
Try the search in Academic Search Premier using the Advanced Search page.
Compare your results with ours
Bringing it all together
Activity
Search for information the following topics using the search engine Google
Old forest logging in Tasmania
now try the same search but this time using quotations marks
“Old forest logging in Tasmania”
This should bring your results down from 119,000 to 1
The following example has the same impact
Accommodation in the Northern Territory has 783,000
“Accommodation in the Northern Territory” brings it down to 436
Using the advanced search option find a power point presentation on Kakadu National Park
Finally locate information that includes and image (picture) of the flag of your state or country of birth.