The Goals in Searching:

Precision	The records resulting from your search are right on target. There are few superfluous or irrelevant records.
Recall	The records resulting from your search include, hopefully, all of the relevant records. Hopefully, there are few superfluous or irrelevant records.

Unfortunately,

• There can be several reasons why you many not be satisfied with the results of your search. These include:
  • Zero records
  • The records are not on the subject.
  • So many records that it is difficult to find the relevant ones.
• When such situations arise, one should analyze the records (if any) that have resulted versus the search statement, including the individual terms, their relations, and operators that were used.

Causes of Poor Search Results

• Selection of the wrong database(s) to search.
• Selection of the wrong field (indexes) to search
• Search terms (concepts) are:
  • Not appropriate
  • Too broad
  • Too vague
  • Too many, resulting in too narrow a result or no records at all.
  • Have multiple meanings
• Errors in input were made. These may include:
  • Spelling errors
  • Errors in the use of various symbols and special characters.
• Erroneous use of Boolean and other operators.
• Use of Truncation in a manner that produces too many search terms.
• Insufficient use of multiple search terms (concepts) to narrow a search.
• Selection of inappropriate Sets for combination into successive searches.

Broadening Your Search

• Do when your search resulted in Zero or very few relevant records.
• Techniques to broaden the search include:
  • Select different or add additional databases to search.
  • Use the or operator:
    • With additional related, alternative, or synonymous terms.
    • In more fields or in all of each record in the database.
  • Set the limiting numbers associated with proximity operators (w, n) to higher numbers.
  • Eliminate or minimize and or not operators that may be limiting your search too much.

Narrowing Your Search

• Do when your search resulted in too many records, many of which are irrelevant.
• Techniques to narrow the search include:
  • Select different satabases or reduce the number of databases to search.
  • Select more specific search terms.
  • Minimize the truncating of root words, select the only the most likely of terms.
    • Example:
      • Instead of truncating computer?, which would search for many words based on the root computer, enter computer? ? which would only find "computer" and "computers."
  • Combine appropriate terms by using and.
  • Eliminate additional, irrelevant terms through the use of not.
  • Set the limiting numbers associated with proximity operators (w, n) to lower (closer) numbers.
  • Eliminate or operators that may be overly expanding the results of your search.