School of Nursing LibGuide: Database Searching

When searching for literature in databases like CINAHL or in the advanced search option in PubMed, it is important that you develop a sound search strategy to guarantee you return the best results.

Search strategies are the combinations of keywords and synonyms that you choose to define your search topics and the way you connect them using AND, OR, or NOT (also known as Boolean operators).

AND

To limit or restrict results, use the term AND. By using AND, you are saying you want results that contain ALL of your terms. So if I was searching for peanut butter AND bread AND jelly, I would only get results for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 

OR

To expand results, use the term OR. By using OR, you are saying you want results that contain any of your terms or any combination of terms. So if I was searching for peanut butter OR bread OR jelly, I would get results for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but I would also get bread recipes or articles on different types of jellies or peanut butter sandwiches without jelly, too. 

NOT

Using NOT is not recommended if you're new to searching. It should only be used by the most advanced users because it's very easy to accidently exclude relevant literature when using it.

To omit specific terms from your search, use the term NOT. So if I wanted to search for every brand of car EXCEPT Ford, I would combine the terms 'car' and 'Ford' with NOT.

This video will provide a brief tutorial on conducting basic searches in CINAHL

This video will provide a brief tutorial on conducting basic searches in PubMed.