Many of the databases (for journal articles and books) follow standard search strategies:
place phrases in quotes:
"African American"
"performance art"
"reproductive rights"
"marriage equality"
"male privilege"
"gender-neutral"
use truncation for a broader search:
feminis* = feminism or feminist or feminists
women* = women or womens
female* = female or females
lesbian* = lesbian or lesbians
activis* = activism or activist or activists
lgbt* = lgbt or lgbtq or lgbtq+
use - or - to connect synonyms or like concepts
any of the words can be present
gay or lesbian* or homosexual* or lgbt* or queer
restroom or bathroom
poem or poetry
policy or policies
"pink capitalization" or "pink money" or "pink economy"
use - and - to connect concepts
all terms must be included
gender and (bathroom*or restroom*)
(gay or lesbian* or homosexual* or lgbt* or queer) and activist*
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
1972
