LIFE102 - Attributes of Living Systems

Searching in library resources can sometimes be a bit tricky.

Incorporating the following tools and tips into your searches will help you create efficient searches and find pertinent information more quickly and easily.

Use Synonyms

A single concept can be described in many different ways.  Use a variety of words when you are searching to retrieve more information on your topic.

Use Boolean Operators

Combining search terms by using Boolean operators can help you to find exactly the information that you need.  They can be used to retrieve more or fewer results.

The Boolean Operators are AND, OR, and NOT. 

• AND:  Use between two words to find results that contain both words [narrows search]
  • Ex) bicycle AND commuting
• OR:  Use between two words to find results that contain either word [broadens search]
  • Ex) bike OR bicycle
• NOT:  Use between two words to find results that contain the first word but not the second [narrows search]
  • Ex) bicycle NOT racing

Additional Search Techniques

• Truncation:  Place an asterisk at the end of a word stem to search for other forms of that word [broadens search]
  • Ex)  bicycl* - finds bicycle, bicycling, etc.
• Phrase searching:  Put short phrases in quotations to search for results which contain that phrase [narrows search]
  • Ex) "bicycle commuting"

Combine Techniques

• Use parentheses to group and combine various searches and strategies into one larger search
  • Ex) (bicycl* OR bike) AND commuting

Your lab assignment is on a very specific topic, which means that you may have to be creative in your searches. 

Make sure you try several search strategies to find information in databases and other resources.  Some suggestions are below.

Words to use in your searches

• Escherichia coli, E. coli
• plasmid, bacterial plasmid
• transformation, bacterial transformation, genetic transformation
• pGLO
• GFP, green fluorescent protein
• Bla, beta lactamase
• araC

Searches to try

• "Escherichia coli" AND (GFP OR "green fluorescent protein") AND transformation
• "Escherichia coli" AND "bacterial plasmid" AND transformation
• "Escherichia coli" AND pGLO
  • you will note this has very few results, as it is too specific

Learn more about how to use Boolean operators by watching this video from the University of Alabama Libraries.

Video by UA Libraries.  CC BY-ND

Try these interactive tutorials from CSU Libraries to learn more about search techniques that work in most databases.

Many library databases only include abstracts (summaries) of articles.  If you don't see a link that says "PDF full text" or "HTML full text" in a database, look for the FindIt@CSU icon. This will link you to the full text of the article.