Refining your search
Limits or filters
After developing your search query and executing your search, you now need to look at the search results and determine whether you have been successful in locating relevant literature. Sometimes you may find that your results are unsuitable, too broad, too narrow or off topic. You may need to adjust your search strategy, or if you feel that your results are close to what you need, using filters will enhance and refine your search further.
Most databases will give you the option to limit your results. Look for the different filtering options in the database when you are getting too many results.
Note that the types of filters available may vary according to the database you are using and the types of information available. For example, in scientific and medical databases, you can search by population or type of study. Most databases will have a search tips section that you can check to see what options are available.
For example, you may be able to specify that you want to retrieve by:
- resource type (e.g. peer-reviewed journals)
- publication date (e.g. last five years)
- subject
- journal title
- language (e.g. English only)
Details and subject headings
Check the information or record page for each item, to help determine if the source will be useful. This will often include an abstract or summary of the item (known as Description in LibrarySearch), as well as subject headings that describe the content.
Subject headings can be useful in introducing you to new concepts and terminology related to your field of inquiry. You can expand your search by incorporating these subject headings into subsequent searches or use the hyperlinked subject headings. You may also find that the description contains information to follow up on such as other works by the same author.
