Week 7: Search Strategies by Daniella Sousa

Boolean logic refers to the relationship among search terms when using databases; this includes the operators AND, OR, NOT. It is helpful because it links together terms and narrows down your search so you can find what you are specifically looking for. For instance on the database JSTOR I searched smoking advertisements AND 1950 NOT antismoking campaign, and was able to narrow my search to specific smoking advertisements in the 1950's. Due to this successful search, I will consider using Boolean logic in the future for other research projects.

                A subject search refers to searching the subject of your topic on a database website. For instance, for my topic of smoking advertisements in the 50’s, I would search Marketing and Advertising in a chosen database.  It is useful to look up specific subjects in a database because it will narrow down your search to articles that are only featured in journals related to the subject of your topic. I have personally tried searching the subject of Marketing and Advertising in JSTOR which helped narrow my search from 835 articles to 80. Because of this effectiveness I will now make sure that when I use the Boolean method, I also conduct a subject search to find articles specifically related to my topic.

                For the Google Scholar vs Library Database debate, I prefer to side with Library Databases. My reason for this is because Google Scholar has too much information and you cannot specifically narrow down your topic. With a Library Database you can use Boolean logic and a subject search to find accurate and helpful articles, rather than thousands of articles that do not even discuss your topic. These two search engines can be used in combination by first using Google Scholar to search for a research question through looking at different ideas and discussions involving your topic. After you have figured out exactly what your research question is, you can turn over to a Library Database to find specific information. As mentioned before, the key differences of these two search engines are that Library Databases use Boolean logic and subject searching while Google Scholar solely focuses on the words you use to find information. In the future I would rely on Library Databases.

                Now that I have completed the draft of my podcast transcript, I know exactly what I want to discuss and the format it will be presented in. The next step will be to use these searching techniques in Library Databases to search key facts that can be added to my podcast.