Part of the Roll Tide Research series module, “Navigating and Using Scout for Research”, this video demonstrates how to use the advanced search features in Scout.
Use specific keywords and phrases that get to the core of your topic.
For the research question: "How did religion shape society in 17th-century Europe?"
Search for the keywords: Puritanism, "Catholic Reformation," Anglicanism, "Jesuit missions"
Put phrases, names, and titles in quotes to keep them together:
"Thirty Years’ War"
"Book of Common Prayer"
"Treaty of Westphalia"
Brainstorm synonyms and related terms:
For movements: Reformation, Counter-Reformation
For belief systems and authority: Theology, Doctrine
For religious practices: Worship, Liturgy, Sacraments
For personal faith and experience: Spirituality, Devotion
Anchor your search with a specific time, place and/or concept
Do some "pre-search" by reading about your topic in a reference source or textbook.
Wikipedia can be a great resource at the early stages of research. You can use it to identify vocabulary for your keyword searches, give you some background information, and point you toward scholarly sources and reporting on your topic.
Look at the subject tags on your search results to identify additional search terms.
You'll find these under the search result in most databases, and on the item page.
Use database thesauri and subject heading lists.
Many databases have standardized lists of terms, or a "controlled vocabulary," for consistent subject labeling. You can keyword search these to find the best search terms for your topic.