Eight questions to ask yourself when searching for information
Subject: Multidisciplinary09/10/24The infographic summarizes the key questions to take into account when conducting a search.
You'll find online seminars and other content to help you master how to search for information on the Library's training site: BiblioSkills.
When you start working on the assignments for your courses, you're likely to need to look for information on the topics you're studying. Before you start, take a few minutes to think about what you really need. In this infographic, we suggest eight key questions that will help you refine your search and obtain better results:
Click to enlarge the infographic.
Once you have answered them all:
- Go to the Library search engine and enter the keywords for what you're looking for. Consider synonyms, equivalent terms in other languages, more general and specific concepts, or acronyms.
Example: In a search for "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder", the keywords could include "attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity", a more general term such as "attention deficit disorder" or the acronyms "ADD" or "ADHD".
- Combine your keywords using the advanced search tool. The AND, OR and NOT operators in the drop-down menu allow you to add new terms to your search or exclude them.
Example: If you search for "corporate social responsibility OR CSR" each result will contain at least one of the search terms.
- Use search filters to narrow down your results by document type (articles, books, videos, legal documents), publication period (current or previous years), or language.
- Explore the databases the Library subscribes to. The Search the digital collection by field page has a selection of platforms where you can search for very specific content such as regulations, laws, news, anatomical images or manuals. You can also find information from different geographical areas.
Learn how to use these search techniques in these seminars, which include practical demonstrations. Register for our upcoming webinars:
We look forward to seeing you!