A literature search, much like lab or field work, usually goes better if you have thought about what you want to accomplish. After you have completed your background research (see Looking at the Literature), you should be ready to start planning your search. This includes first determining what questions you need to answer from the literature, and then using information you have already gleaned to come up with a list of keywords, and then a search strategy. You also need to consider which databases are appropriate for your research.

A researcher should be able to answer the following questions before beginning library researrch:

• What is the goal of my research? What do I need to do to reach this goal?
• What do I already know? (i.e., "What information do I already have on hand?")
• What do I still need to learn?
• Why is what I am researching important?
• Has my project been done before? If so, how? What new spin can I put on it?
• What techniques/methods/tools/compounds are used? What do I need to know about them?

The answers to these questions will help you as you are planning the research process.

Creating a Search Strategy

Choosing Keywords | Boolean Operators | Truncation

Choosing Keywords

Taking the time to think about the terms you will search is an important step in the research process. Poorly selected terms can result in inaccurate or incomplete searches. For me, the most effective way to come up with keywords is to just keep a list while I'm skimming the literature. I jot down scientific names,techniques and methods, and even author's names, as well as alternate spellings and descriptive phrases. As I do more involved research, the list evolves, but it is a very useful starting point.

Growing up in the southeast part of the US kudzu & kudzu control was a part of my life. Because of this, I am obessed with introduced species and the effects that the new species have on the surronding ecosytem and vice versa. I recently came across this article on genetic variation, I decided I wanted to learn more. So, after a through reading of the article, I came up with the following keywords:

• kudzu
• Pueraria lobata
• southeastern United States
• allozymes
• clonal
• Fabaceae
• genetic diversity
• invasive
• vine
• genetic variation
• genetic polymorphism
• geographical variation
• artificial selection

Boolean Operators

Remember that when searching indexes for more than one term it is necessary to combine your keywords into one search statement by using Boolean operators, OR and AND (and sometimes NOT).

If the search doesn't yield enough results, you might try a broader search without so many restrictions.

Truncation

Attaching a wild card symbol to the end of a root word is called truncation. When used in a search, the database will search for the root word and alternate endings. For example, gene* will retrieve items with the words genes or genetic (as well as a bunch of other things you may not want, such as genera, general,and generation). The symbol used for truncation varies from database to database. For example, Web of Science uses an asterisk (*). Use the individual database's Help system to determine if it allows truncation and what the symbol is.

Selecting a Database

Each database usually covers a particular subject or sub-discipline, but there are also other factors to consider when deciding which database to use:

• subject coverage
• dates of coverage
• types of resources that are indexed (journals, patents, technical reports, reviews)
• type of searching available (controlled vocabulary, citation searching, structure/substructure searching)

A complete list of databases of use to biology-related research is available from the Research Guide.

Contact: Linda Maddux, Science Librarian & Janis Shampay, Biology Professor