Many of the databases follow standard search strategies:
place phrases in quotes:
"birth control"
"performance art"
"reproductive rights"
"marriage equality"
"male privilege"
use truncation for a broader search:
feminis* = feminism or feminist or feminists
women* = women or womens
female* = female or females
lesbian* = lesbian or lesbians
Think of different ways to say the same thing - OR
tv or television
gay or lesbian* or homosexual* or lgbt
work or employment or job
poem or poetry
policy or policies
Most of the databases allow you to limit by time period.
Most databases allow you to limit the search to a particular field (fulltext, abstract, anywhere but fulltext)
Start with abstract or anywhere but fulltext - then branch to fulltext if you cannot find what you are looking for.
example search in NYT Historical:Looking for documents about the controversy with abortion on the tv show Maude
abortion and maude and (television or tv) limit to abstract
