Phrase searching
If you're searching for an exact phrase, use quotation marks. Let's consider an example. If you search the phrase social media without quotation marks, the database will return articles that include the words social and media used in any context. You could get results that aren't relevant at all. For example, there might be articles on how social workers are portrayed on TV. By quoting "social media" you are limiting the results to only articles that use those words in that particular order. Use this tip only when needed.
# of entries in Communication and Mass Media Complete:
- social media = 47,295
- "social media" = 20,116
Search Fields
Most databases have drop down fields or advanced search menus where you can customize what you are searching. By default, most search the title, abstract, citation information, and assigned subject headings. You can change this to limit your search terms to the subject or title. This would decrease your results but (hopefully) increase the relevancy of your results. Alternatively, you may have certain keywords that you would only expect in the full text of the article. The full text is usually not searched, but you can select this as an option. Databases frequently have multiple search boxes to allow you to customize the search field for different keywords.
