Mastering the Art of Research: How to Find Exactly What You Need

At some point in college, every student has to write a research paper. While there’s no one correct way to do research, some ways are more effective than others. 

Anne Marie McLean, Research, Learning, and Engagement Librarian at the University of the Cumberlands, shares her expert strategies for crafting the perfect search query. Whether you’re researching artificial intelligence in healthcare or exploring music’s impact on mental health, these college research tips will help you uncover more relevant and credible sources.

Boolean Logic

There are certain ‘codes’ that can be used to focus the search on the most relevant results. Boolean Logic calculates results as either TRUE or FALSE using three basic logical operators: AND, OR, and NOT.

• AND narrows your results by requiring all terms to appear.
  Example: AI AND healthcare will show only results that include both phrases.
• OR broadens your search by including results that contain any of the listed terms.
  Example: AI OR “artificial intelligence” finds both variations to bring up more sources.
• NOT excludes terms that aren’t relevant to your topic.
  Example: artificial intelligence NOT ChatGPT removes content specifically about that tool.

Keyboard Symbols

Adding certain characters to words can further guide search results. 

• Truncation uses an asterisk (*) to include word variants that share the same root.
  Example: music* finds music, musical, musician, and more.
• Wildcards replace one letter in a word, helping you account for spelling differences or singular/plural forms. The symbol is often a ? or #, depending on the database.
  Example: wom?n retrieves both woman and women.
• Parentheses group terms together to organize complex searches—just like in algebra.
  Example: Health* AND Gender AND (“artificial intelligence” OR AI)
• Quotation Marks ensure that phrases stay intact.
  Example: Searching for “artificial intelligence” returns results where those words appear in that exact order.

Most databases will have an Advanced Search function that builds in Boolean Operators for you to help organize complex searches.

Tip from McLean: Watch the Advanced Search video on the Library Tutorials page! Also, find exact documentation for the UC Search system on the Research Skills Guide.

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact the library via phone at 606-539-4329, or Ask a Librarian via chat or email!