Library Search

Finding information

I want to find information on business management, but when I type that into the search box I get a zillion results? What am I doing wrong?

Typing the words business management into Library Search gets over 7 million results.

Typing "business management" ...... over 1 million results.

To get better results, ask yourself: What do I want to know about business management? Maybe you want to know about motivating staff, increasing profits, restructuring, ethical leadership.

 

I want to know about the business management practices of furniture stores?

OK. Use the terms "business management" AND "furniture stores" or type the name of a furniture store, example "business management" AND "IKEA" - this search will return 800 results.

Using filters and limiting to the last five years, will get 300 results, limit again by Peer Review, 184 results. The most relevant results will appear at the top of the list.

 

 

  

Tips for better searching

Step 1

Search Terms
  • start with no more than two or three search terms
  • use double quotations for a term eg. "lung cancer"
  • avoid using very broad terms such as business or nursing as single terms - these terms will return too many results, if you use these terms you will need to combine them with more specific terms
  • avoid using descriptive words like productive or effective
  • avoid using words like analyzing or comparing - these are not what you are trying to find information about, they are not subject terms
  • be specific, use terms like "ethical leadership" or "Adani mine"
Step 2 Subject Filters
  • once you have a list of results, go to the subject filter and select your subject area
Step 3 Content Filter
  • limit by articles, books or online material
Step 4 Date Filter
  • limit by the dates - do you want only the last 5 or 10 years?

 

Can you tell me where the filters are?

The filters will appear on your search results page. They allow you to fine tune your search, reducing the number of results.

 

This image shows the use of filters

 

Tips for using filters.

 

If you have selected a filter, like a date limit, you can remove that filter by clicking on the X.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on Show More to see the complete list of options.

 

 

 

 

When entering a date range, you need to click on Refine to create the date limit.

 

I want to limit my search results to e-books. How do I do this?

This is easy. In the filters column, under Content Type, click on Show More and select the type Books. Under Show Only click on Full Text Online (if there are e-books they will now appear in the results).

Picture of how to filter for e-book

 

I want to know how to combine search terms?

Search terms are discussed in Guide 8.

 

Searching is a skill. As you progress as a student, you will learn more advanced skills. If you are already competent with using Library Search and are looking for advanced and comprehensive information on information literacy, you might like to explore our Advanced Guide.

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