Library databases require that we search by concept or keyword and connect these terms using the Boolean search operators AND, OR, and NOT. Before starting our research, we should spend some time brainstorming keywords that describe our topic.
When we search for articles, the best search terms are specific. Words that are too general or have many different meanings won't bring back the articles we need. Specialized vocabulary in the nursing discipline or subject area can also make for excellent search terms. We usually come across this vocabulary as we read more about our topic.
A good place to start is with our PICO format research topic or question, and then find key concepts and terms related to that topic.
We can follow these steps with our own research question in order to develop a list of keywords:
1. Start with the research topic or question(s).
For example: "For adolescents with type II diabetes (P), does the use of telehealth consultations (I) compared to in-person consultations (C) improve blood sugar control (O)?
2. Next identify the key concepts within your topic or question. Concepts might include single words or phrases. When you're researching a PICO question, it can often be most useful to focus your database search on the Patient/Problem (P) and Intervention (I), so that you don't influence the results of your search:
For example:
3. Now identify related keywords for each key concept. These can be synonyms, broader terms, or more specific terms to represent these concepts.
For example:
Learning how to combine keywords and search terms is essential to getting relevant search results from a library database. We use words called Boolean operators to combine search terms in a database. The three main Boolean operators are AND, OR, and NOT. Note in the examples below that we can usually find and change the Boolean operator in our search by using the pull down menu in a database. We can also type Boolean operators in the search bar.
The following examples come from Highline College Library's One Search tool, which allows us to:
We can use these Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to focus our search results:
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