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Albert S. Cook Library

ART 456: Typography II

Database Searching 101

Database searching is not as intuitive as searching on the internet. Here are a few tricks to help find what you are looking for.

AND - Adding this connector will search for information containing multiple search terms

Example: Groot AND Rocket=  information on BOTH Groot & Rocket

OR - This connector will search for articles BOTH terms, they do not need to be present together

Example: Captain America OR Steve Rodgers = information that has associated terms.

NOT - This will limit search results that include the secondary term

Example: Avengers NOT Guardians of the Galaxy = information that doesn't mention Guardians of the Galaxy


Using the asterisk (*) will truncate the end of a word, widening the net you cast in your search

Example: cubis* = cubism, cubist, cubists

Using quotation marks around a phrase or concept of more than two words will ensure that the concept will be searched for as a whole. 

Example: searching Public Art will bring back information that mentions the terms: Public and Art separately. "Public Art" = results that feature these words together as a term.