Databases index a specific set of periodicals within a specific time frame and replace older print indexes. In some cases, the databases provide only bibliographic information while some titles provide links to full-text articles within the database. To use database effectively search strategies are important.
First, most databases will allow for some form of Boolean searching to accommodate synonyms, to eliminate unwanted ideas or to find overlapping ideas as you can see from the chart below"
http://libguides.ucd.ie/litreview/searching
Along with Boolean searching, you can also use truncation and wildcards for variations on a word.
- TRUNCATION: missio* would retrieve all resources using the words mission, missiology, missions, etc.
- WILDCARD: wom?n will retrieve both woman and women eliminating the need to do 2 searches
Phrase searching can be especially problematic as the search engine will often search for each word specifically. There are a couple of solutions to this issue.
- Placing words in quotation marks "Great Awakening" will trigger the search for the full phrase
- Using controlled vocabulary as it appears in the Subject Headings and selecting Subject instead of Keyword focuses the search significantly.
The databases also include a variety of Limiters (ways to reduce the results) and Expanders (ways to increase the results) that you can select including dates, journal title, article type, language, etc.