creating search queries

Building effective keyword search queries is the key to finding relevant resources in Bilkent library, google scholar, or other online search engines. You should keep a list of your keywords and queries so you can interrogate new search engines as you find them.

Generating keywords

Keywords should be specific and targeted at the field you want to learn about. You can find good keywords by

looking at the keywords in the question / research brief
brainstorming synonyms and related terms
reading relevant reference materials (dictionaries, encyclopedias) or sources on the topic for key noun phrases / keywords

For example, we get the following keywords and synonyms/related terms by analysing the essay question “Can higher education institutions help societies achieve equality of opportunity?”:

higher education institutions (universities, college, institutes)
societies (Turkey, US, UK, Europe, Middle East)
equality of opportunity (equal opportunity, diversity, social justice, affirmative action, positive discrimination)

Building queries

You can use a few syntax tricks to build more targeted queries.

1. Use “quotation marks” to join phrases into a single search term (i.e., the search engine will look for the exact phrase, making the results more specific. For example:

search term: higher education
results: higher scores, higher participation, primary education, secondary education, university, etc.

search term: “higher education”
results: university, college, tertiary education, etc.

2. You can also join keywords together into more complex targeted queries using boolean operators like AND, OR, NOT, and (brackets), etc. Remeber to use brackets when using both AND and OR operators. For example:

(universities OR college OR “higher education” OR “tertiary education”) AND (“equal opportunities” OR “equality of opportunity”) AND Turkey NOT thanksgiving

3. Finally, the Bilkent library search engine also allows you to use uppercase limiters in your query to search particular parts of a record:

TX – all text
AU – author
TI – title
SO – source (journal name)
SU – subject
AB – abstract
IB – ISBN (unique book identifier)
IS – ISSN (unique journal identifier)

For example:

TI (universities OR college OR “higher education” OR “tertiary education”) AND (“equal opportunities” OR “equality of opportunity”) AND SU education

Using limiters

Search limiters will help you find current and relevant resources. The library allows you to refine your search by several criteria, available on the left hand side of the screen:

limit to collection / date published
Source Types
Subject
Publisher
Publication
Language
Geography
Collection
Content Provider

If you are getting too many results, try applying limiters before refining or changing your query.

Overview

	Library Quick Search (EBSCO Host)	Library Catalog	Google Scholar
website	library.bilkent.edu.tr/	librarycatalog.bilkent.edu.tr	scholar.google.com
advanced search	Click “Advanced Search” under the search box on the results page	Click “Advanced” under the search box	Click the down arrow in the search box
exact term	“higher education”	“higher education”	“higher education”
find synonyms/ other forms	“higher education” OR university OR universities	“higher education” university universities	“higher education” OR university OR universities
combined terms	(“higher education” OR university) AND equality	university “higher education” equality	(university OR “higher education”) AND equality
excluded terms	“higher education” NOT research	use advanced search	“higher education” -research
title field	TI “higher education”	use advanced search	allintitle:higher education
whole text	TX “higher education”	use advanced search	allintext:higher education
author field	AU Tannock	use advanced search	use advanced search
full syntax guide	EBSCO Field Codes	use advanced search	Google Scholar Help
limiters on page interface	Collection Date published Source Types Subject Publisher Publication Language Geography Collection Content Provider	Author Material Type Language Publication Date Shelf Location Subject	Articles Case law Date
locate full text	Click the links “PDF Full Text” or “Full Text Finder“ or open the e-book contents page	Go and find the book/journal on the library shelves J Or locate in Bilkent library e-resources (library > finding resources)	Click library link, e.g., “E-resources@Bilkent“ or the link labeled [PDF] to the right of the search result

Notes

Boolean operators should be in upper case, i.e., AND, OR, NOT
The library catalog does not accept boolean operators
In google search syntax, there is no space between the colon and the first keyword, e.g., intitle:university

References

Google Scholar. “Google Scholar Search Tips.” 2016. Accessed February 15.https://scholar.google.com.tr/intl/en/scholar/help.html

McReynolds, Georgiana. 2016. “LibGuides: Google Search Tips: Search Operators.” Accessed February 15. http://libguides.mit.edu/c.php?g=176061&p=1159512

University Libraries, University of Colarado Boulder. n.d. “How do I… choose keywords for my search?” Accessed 16 March 2016. http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/how/keywords.htmNotes (link unavailable)