This document provides guidance on revising search questions to find more relevant results. It discusses searches being too broad or too narrow. For searches that are too broad and return long lists of articles, it recommends narrowing the search topic by identifying its main aspects and combining keywords. For searches that are too narrow and return few results, it suggests broadening the search by looking at individual parts of the topic in isolation or more general topics on the subject in order to learn more and develop new research directions. The document also provides templates for developing good search topics and advises beginning researchers to use existing research to add to current understanding rather than simply restating others' work.

1. A UST Libraries Information Literacy Tutorial

2. Revise your search question
Does finding an article in a database feel like looking for
a needle in a haystack?
Are you getting zero results from your searches?
In this part of the tutorial, you’ll learn how to revise your
search question to get a more relevant and manageable
list of search results.

3. Revise your search question
Outline:
1. Too-broad searches
2. Too-narrow searches

4. 1. Too-broad searches
If you have to look through long lists of articles to find
one that’s relevant to your research, then your search
question might be too broad.
How do you narrow it down?

5. 1. Too-broad searches
First, how many terms does your search topic have?
If you are looking for information on a single topic, you
probably need to consult a reference resource or a book.
Reference resources can show you how a topic can be broken
down. What are the main aspects of the topic that people
have studied? How has this topic been combined with
other subject areas?
For example:
Lincoln =>
Lincoln AND “Civil War” AND agriculture
(note: use quotation marks to search for phrases)

6. 1. Too-broad searches
Is your topic developed enough?
A good topic usually combines several elements, such as:
 Persons
 Places
 Texts
 Variables
 Populations
 Approaches
 Arguments

7. 1. Too-broad searches
Here are two templates of good topics:
1. What is the effect of [independent variable] on
[dependent variable] among [population]?
OR
2. What does an application of [approach] to [text]
reveal about [historical issue/literary debate]?
Of these examples, (1) is more useful for natural or social
sciences, and (2) can be used in the humanities.

8. 2. Too-narrow searches
Are you stuck looking for the one article that perfectly
fits your topic?
Does it seem like no one has ever written anything on
your research idea?
In this part of the tutorial, you will learn how to broaden
your search to get more relevant results, and maybe
change the direction of your research.

9. 2. Too-narrow searches
Beginning researchers sometimes make the mistake of
looking for one article that covers their entire search
topic precisely. Then they mine this article for quotes
for their paper, which becomes a restatement of others’
work.
A better approach is to use the existing research to learn
as much as you can about your subject matter. Then
think of ways to add to the current state of
understanding and discussion.
Look for articles to synthesize and respond to, not
articles to simply quote from or summarize.

10. 2. Too-narrow searches
Broaden your search by looking for individual parts of
your topic in isolation, or for more general topics.
For example, instead of searching for an article on
Lincoln AND Sherman (the Civil War general), look
for Lincoln materials, then Sherman materials, and
synthesize what you find. It might make for an
interesting project.
If that doesn’t work, look at reference materials on the
broader subject (the Civil War). Browsing reference
resources, such as academic encyclopedias, can be a
good way to find new research topics.