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ACES

This guide has been developed as a helpful research guide for the Living and Learning program ACES

Advanced Research Collections

Campus Resources

Tips & Tricks

Use the following tip and tricks within the UMD Libraries and in most commercial databases and search engines

  • *(asterisk) use an asterisk to tell the system to search all available suffixes 
    • EX: search librar* to search libraries, library, librarians, etc. 
  • Search for a known title "using quotation marks." This can also be used if you want to search a "compound phrase." This will tell the computer to search for the words in the exact order you're telling it to and will keep it from searching for any combination of the words. Will help you target and clarify your search.
    • EX: "The Logic of Practice" or "social philosophy" 
  • Use the following 2 letter combinations to more effectively search from the main search bar in UMD Discover (be sure there is no space after the colon, ex. TI:outline of a theory of practice)
    • TI:title search
    • SU:subject search
    • KW:keyword search
    • AU:author search
  • Remember the difference between SUBJECTS (specialized vocabulary, system defined, and taxonomic) and KEYWORDS (author/publisher defined, more like ‘tags’ in social media).
  • Using AND to combine concepts (Students AND test anxiety), OR to broaden the scope of your search (Students OR Adolescents), and NOT to limit your search (Students NOT K-12) will help sort through a lot of the results and help narrow what you find. Be careful, however, as you can be too specific and miss important materials.
  • Remember to use the database limiters to help refine your search 
  • Think about what you’re looking for and search in the appropriate location (journals = databases, books= UMD Discover/UBorrow).
  • Make sure to use the appropriate search option (author name, title, keyword, subject, etc.) when searching.
  • Check your Research Guides for additional help and don’t hesitate to ask a librarian!