UniPrep: Searching the ECU Library

The ECU library catalogue is a search engine that provides instant access to books, journal articles, newspaper articles, DVD's, ebooks and more through one simple search.

Create a Search Strategy

Before you start searching ECU Library or a database it is recommended that you spend time thinking and creating a search strategy. This requires you to identify relevant search terms and combine them together as a string.

This will help you search effectively and efficiently and save you time.

6 Quick Search Tips

1. Identify Key concepts: 

Analyse your assignment question or topic and identify key terms and phrases. Think of alternative terms that can also be used. i.e. "Social work", counselling.

2. Combine the terms in a search: 

AND - joins concepts and narrows the search

• "global warming" AND "greenhouse effect"
• inequality AND "social work"

3. Use Truncation and Wildcards:

Search all forms of the word, variant spelling (i.e. Australian English v American English)

• child* (child, children, childhood etc.)
• behavio*r (behavior, behaviour)
• infan* (infants, infantile, infancy)
• aggress* (aggressive, aggression, aggressiveness) 

4. Phrase searching

"...." enclose a phrase in inverted commas to only search for that particular phrase in that order, not for every individual word.

• "social policy"
• "child development"

5. Broaden your search:

OR (use synonyms to broaden the search, including alternative or related terms)

• "social work" OR counsel*ing
• youth OR adolesc* OR juvenille