1. Identify Search Terms

The first step in searching for information for your topic is identifying keywords/search terms. Library databases require you to enter keywords into the search box because entering an entire essay topic/question will not be as effective and may likely return poor or even no results at all. The keywords/search terms you use are critical in determining the relevance of the results that you will retrieve. Examples of the keywords/search terms you may use are:

"Fair value"

"Accumulated Depreciation"

"useful life"

"residual value"

2.  Creating a Search Statement 

To retrieve the most relevant search results, you will need to construct a search statement.

A search statement is a combination of the keywords/search terms that you enter into the search box of a database. You use Connecting Words to link the keywords/search terms. Connecting Words are AND, OR and NOT. 

Connecting keywords/search terms & using phrases to improve your search:

1. AND:  (e.g. "South Africa" AND "financial statements") retrieves only results containing both terms.
2. OR: Searches for similar words and related terms. Note:  the keywords must be in brackets. E.g.: (bad OR doubtful) AND debt
3. Phrases: should be in quotation marks (e.g. “close corporations” retrieves the phrase close corporations)
4. Combining Phrases:  (e.g. “South Africa” AND “financial statements") will retrieve articles which contain both phrases.

Use * to replace a letter or shorten a word to retrieve all versions of the word.

• Eg. inventor* = inventory and inventories
• Organi*ation = organisation and organization (SA/British or American spelling)
• Account* = account, accounts and accountant

Search statement examples:

"financial statement*" AND (analysis OR interpretation)

"accumulated depreciation" AND "value in use"

account* AND "residual value"

3. Using Search Statements

These Search Statements can be used to find appropriate textbook sources and articles on Search All as well as on relevant library databases and websites.

To find the information that you need for your writing tasks and course portfolios, try some of the websites suggested on the  Accounting Subject Guide

Useful websites will include:

Quarterly Bulletins of the South African Reserve Bank

South African Revenue Service

South African Reserve Bank

For further queries please contact edtech@ru.ac.za 

Have a look at the Find books, e-books & theses tab on your Accounting Subject Guide

to find out more about finding and using E-Books on ProQuest Ebook Central,  EBSCO eBooks  & Search All

You can also search for e-books using the Search All option on the library webpage. Click on More Search Options, select All Fields & enter your keywords. Limit the Content Type to Book/eBook & click on  Search. (You can refine your search results further by selecting the options on the left hand side if necessary).  Select Full Text Online & follow the link.

Remember and Take Note: Different E-books vendors/Publishers have different Loan policies.

More Information can be found on the E-Books Guide.

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Printable Quick Guide to the Anglia Ruskin Harvard System in PDF format