Discovery Search Tutorial

Where to Start???

The Basic Search is simple, easy to use, and can be a good place to start your search. It is best for...

• when you are beginning your research and don't know much about your topic
• when you are looking for a basic overview of a topic

The Advanced Search lets you build a more detailed search--that returns more relevant results. It is best for...

• when your topic has multiple aspects (ex: gun control on US college campuses)
• when you want to use filters to limit the items you are searching (ex: limiting your search to journal articles)

Use the Suggested Search Terms

When you type a term into the search box, you may notice that Discovery will provide you with suggested search terms. These suggested search terms can be helpful in expanding your search to include other relevant terms.

Example: If you type the words "Spanish flu" into the search box, Discovery will suggest the terms below. These additional terms may include helpful variations that will bring back a larger number of results AND more relevant results than the single term you entered.

Combine or ignore terms using AND, OR, or NOT

If you were looking for information on cats being used as therapy animals, you would want to use Advanced Search to find more relevant results. 

For example, the search below will look for results that include animal therapy AND cats, but NOT dogs. 

To change the AND, OR, or NOT operator, click the AND button 1x and the operator will change to OR, click the button again and it will change to NOT.