Search Strategies: Keywords
Unlike search engines such as Google or Bing, which have a capacity for processing natural language (full sentences, words with similar meanings, etc), OneSearch can only process the exact words users input as their search queries (keywords).
When searching for resources for a project, try to break your concept down into major ideas. The topic "How does light pollution impact bird migration" might be broken down into:
"light pollution" AND migration AND birds
Quotation marks group individual keywords into a phrase which means OneSearch will look for results that contain those words in that exact order. Otherwise, the above search might retrieve items that include the words light and pollution, but not necessarily light pollution. Some of those results might even include the word light in the context of weight rather than illumination, which would clutter the results list with a lot of irrelevant items.
For more information about how find and use keywords in OneSearch, see the Keyword Synonyms page of this guide. See the Boolean Operators and Advanced Search pages to learn more about how to link keywords together. (All links open in a new window)
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