Ways to Refine Your Search Strategy

There are a number of ways to modify/refine your search strategy to optimize your results.

Truncation

You may want to start out searching broadly--and not miss possibly related items. Truncating (also known as Wildcard or Stem searching) can be a way of expanding your terms or phrases. Many databases and online catalogs may choose from various symbols to perform truncating actions (such as the *, ? or !). The Gordon Library catalog uses the"?" to broaden search results (e.g. browse? will find browse, browser and browsers).

Limiting a Search

Limiting a search is a valuable part of your search strategy and help you refine your results. Use the Advanced Search tab to limit searches by:

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Last modified: Oct 19, 2009, 13:49 EDT