The databases operate a little differently than Google. Here are some tips to get better results quickly and spend less time searching.
1. Don't use full sentences! Break your search into key words
2. AND-- When you AND search words, you get less hits/results, but they are more accurate.
Ex. exxon AND suppliers Ex. airlines AND economics
3. OR -- When you OR search words, you get more hits/results, but they may be less accurate. You can use OR with synonyms.
Ex. statistics OR demographics Ex. suppliers OR distributors OR "supply chain"
4. "quotation marks" -- When you use quotation marks, you get less hits/results, but they are more accurate.
You must have 2 or more words to use quotations. It should be a common phrase.
Ex. "united states" Ex. "supply chain"
5. * -- When you use *, you get more hits/results, but they may be less accurate. * searches for all forms of a word at once.
Ex. econo* = economic, economics, economies, economy, economical, etc.
Ex. financ* = finance, finances, financial, etc. whereas finance* = finance, finances
6. NOT --When you NOT words, you get less hits/results, but they are more accurate. You can NOT a term that you want to weed out of a result list.
Ex. "yum brands" NOT delicious Ex. alcohol NOT prohibition
7. Mix and Match-- You can mix and match these tips
Ex. (statistic* OR demographic*) AND suppl* AND "united states" AND exxon
Ex. ("social responsiblity" OR csr OR ethic*) AND starbucks
