Good searching can shorten your research time significantly. Here are some tips from the pros:
Use quotation marks around a phrase to inform the search engine to look for exactly the phrase you enter- for example "virtual spaces" or "middle earth".
When searching for a keyword with multiple variations (ex. "education", "educators") use the root form of the word and add an asterisk (*). This means using walk* will retrieve items that have all variations-- "walk", "walks", "walker", "walkers", "walking", etc.
Start simple! Begin with 1-2 targeted key words and then make adjustments (more terms, less terms, different terms) depending on your search results. Pay attention to keywords, phrases that are used in highly relevant resources.
Use the built-in database filters to focus your results- most interfaces let you limit by publication date, subject, format and more
Finally, ZSR Librarians are here to help you find the best sources for your research assignment!