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Starting Your Research Series

Using search boxes

Remember, databases have tools that help you find what you need. When you search in a database, you’ll enter your search terms into the search boxes. The database will search for exactly what you type in. Enter in the terms that are at the heart of what you want to find. For example, if your research question is “What impact do artificial intelligence systems have on student learning,” you might enter these terms into the search box:

  • Artificial intelligence
  • Student learning

Some databases give you multiple search boxes, or let you add more by clicking a plus sign. 

You can put artificial intelligence AND student learning together in one field (see Illustration A), or put artificial intelligence in one field and student learning in another (see Illustration B).

Remember: databases search for exactly what you type in, so check your search to make sure you don’t have any typos.

Illustration A:                                                                                                             Illustration B:Decorative: terms entered into the Academic Search Complete database in two different fields

Decorative: Academic Search Complete database with keywords entered in one field

Click the Next button to learn about filters