Management: How to Search: search strategies & tips

It is important that you should thoroughly understand the topic you are researching before you begin searching for information. Dictionaries and encyclopaedias are a good place to begin. Dictionaries provide definitions of unfamiliar terms, whilst encyclopaedias give more detailed explanations and overviews of topics. Examples of both Print and Online Reference Sources can be found below.

1. Identify Search Terms

Now that you understand the basics of the topic, think about the key concepts and identify possible search terms.

A first and very important 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 search terms you use are critical in determining the relevance of the results that you will retrieve.

2.  Create a Search Statement 

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

A search statement is a combination of keywords that you enter into the search box of a database. You can use Boolean operators between the search terms. Boolean operators are the words used to connect search terms and to define the relationships between the search terms. These include AND, OR and NOT.  To make your search more effective, the following techniques can be used:

• Phrase searching: use quotation marks to keep the two words together

  e.g.  “corporate governance”

• Truncation & wildcards:  use a *

  e.g. leader* will retrieve leader, leaders, leadership, leading etc.

organi*ation will retrieve both organisation and organization

 Search statement examples:

"South Africa" AND entrepreneurship

(“Small Business” OR  SME) AND “South Africa”

"venture capital" AND "credit lending"

(challenge* or difficult*) AND ("Small business" OR SME) AND "South Africa"

Always evaluate the information you read. Be particularly careful when consulting Wikipedia and similar internet sites as the authority and reliability of the content cannot be guaranteed.

When deciding if a webpage is reliable, you should ask yourself the following questions.

Dictionary of South African English

Over 4000 uniquely South African words across three centuries, browsable by category

Read more about the project

Use Search Statements

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

Some Useful Search Tips

• Always start your search using only 2 or 3 search terms and avoid long phrases as the more terms that you enter, the fewer results you get.
• If your first term doesn't work, try a broader term or synonym.
• Read the HELP screens on each database to clarify how to best to construct your keyword search. Taking a few moments to read through the "how to search" instructions may save you hours of time and frustration.
• If you find a good book reference on Search All, click on Quick Look, have a look at the Abstract and scroll down to Subjects where you will find the Subject Terms/Headings that the library cataloguers have assigned to it.  Click on a Term to call up more books just like the one that you have found.
• A quick way to check the relevance of any print books you find is to glance at the Table of Contents, the Introduction and any Descriptive Blurbs on the back cover.  The Index at the back of the book not only helps you locate very specific topics in the book, but also gives you an indication of how much attention (i.e. how many pages) the book spends on that particular topic.
• If you are using an Ebook, have a look at the Description, the Table of Contents and click on Show More to see the Subject Terms/Headings.
• If you find a book useful, look at the bibliography as this can help identify other relevant sources.  Following a chain of references in a bibliography like this, whether in a book or a journal article , is one of the most basic techniques of scholarship - so find something that is relevant and look at the sources it used.
• Note that journal articles are short and cover very specific topics, so they are more digestible than books and more likely to deal exactly with a topic.  They are also quicker to publish than books and so are more likely to be up to date.
• Books, on the other hand, provide context and background information on a Subject.