Library and Information Services

Planning your search strategy

Step one – consider topic

Spend some time thinking about your topic to define and clarify your research question

Break down search topic into sections

Think of Keywords to describe the topic

Step two – think about search terms

Generic words can be omitted eg: discuss, assess, importance

Consider alternative terms- look at Oxford Reference online business dictionaries

Alternative spellings eg: organiz/sation or behavio(u)r can be expressed as organi*ation /behavio*r to find both spellings

Word endings: truncate using asterisks or question marks eg: leader* leader? This searches for leader, leaders, leadership

Step three – linking search terms

AND search – combining two different subjects together

OR search – alternative words which are often crucial to success of the search eg: cultural differences or diversity

Words as a phrase eg: “job satisfaction”

Don’t try to link too many terms together at once. You might need to search for different aspects of the topic separately

Step four – choosing databases

Choosing your database For articles

Emerald full text Academic OneFile PsycINFO – for some topics such as job

satisfaction / motivation Business and market data

Marketline Mintel

Step five – searching & modifying

Different databases will use different search terms to describe same subject

Check what subject terms (called keywords in Emerald) are used for your topic and modify the search if necessary

Limit to searching within different indexes eg: subject, article title, author

Limit to years of publication Limit to type of document eg: books, book chapters,

journal articles, conference papers, reports.

Step six – relevant results retrieved

Is the item full text? – go direct to article, perhaps linking via e-journal finder

Is it held in the Library?

If not, articles and books can be requested on Interlibrary-loan.

Topic one- HRM issues in the banking sector

Emerald Banks (banks not banking is the keyword) AND human resource management (phrase)

Academic OneFile Banks or “banking industry”(subject) AND “human resource management”

Search for a banking journal title eg: Journal of retail banking services (in publication title index)

AND “human resource management”

Topic two: Innovation in organizations

Emerald Competitive* (finds competitive and

competitiveness) AND innovation advantage organi*ation*

(all the words on same search line) Non-articles: abstracts of articles in other journals

Academic OneFile1. Competit* and innovation and advantage2. Subject search for competitiveness leads to competition

(economics) Search within results > innovation > advantage

Topic three: Factors affecting job satisfaction or organization loyalty

Emerald Job satisfaction (phrase) AND working conditions (phrase)

Job satisfaction (phrase) AND organizational commitment (phrase)

Academic OneFile “Job satisfaction” AND “working

conditions” or “quality of work life” or “work environment”

Topic four: Cultural differences and HRM

Emerald Human resource management (phrase) AND divers* OR “Cultural differences”

Academic OneFile Subject browse search on cultural differences leads to

cultural diversity in the workplace: see workplace diversity

Advanced search “workplace diversity” (subject) AND “human resource management”

Example of article: Creating an environment for global diversity…