How do I limit my search results?
Answer
There are multiple ways you can limit your search results.
The first thing you should do is think of your keywords. Is your search specific enough? For example, if you are doing a research paper on climate change's affect on poverty, you shouldn't just type in climate change. You should add poverty to your search. This same concept can be applied to any search topic. Make sure to ask yourself: Do my search terms accurately reflect my research topic?
Once you have appropriate keywords, there are other limiting options within databases. Each database looks a little different but most database have the same limiting options:
- Type of Resource (e.g. Academic Article, News Article, Magazine Article)
- Publication Date
- Language
- Full Text
You can usually find the limiting options in the databases on the sides of the results (often on the left side) or sometimes they may be on the top of the results.
If you are searching in a database and need help limiting your results, remember to contact the library for help!
