This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new windowWhy use subject databases?
Be sure to use Caps for AND, OR, NOT when searching.
AND - searches for books and articles containing both terms. Example: Iran AND Women AND politics
OR - searches for one of the words. Example: Tehran OR Mashhad
NOT - exclude a term. Example: Iran AND "foreign relations" NOT "united states"
Parenthetical notes () - excellent for OR or NOT searches. Like a math equation, the database will do this part first.
Example: (Tehran OR Mashhad) AND Politics = search for politics in Tehran or Mashhad
Example: (Iran NOT Iraq) AND "Middle East" AND "regional politics" = search for articles about Iran in middle eastern regional politics, excluding articles specifically about Iraq
Quotation Marks ""- Links words together in the search. Works best for phrases or proper names.
Example: "Foreign relations"
Example: "motion picture"
Warning: You might exclude results. A search for "Nuri Said" would exclude results for "Nuri Pasha al-Said"
Asterisk * - Allows you to search several word endings at once, without using OR.
Example: Iran* covers Iran, Iranian, Iranians
Example: wom* will cover women, woman, womens, womanhood,
Warning: You may get unexpected results. Brit* will also yield Brittany, Britons, and Britches. Virginia* will bring up articles on the Didelphis virginiana (Virginia opossum). Iran* brings up Iranotherium and Iranduba