Once you have determined your keywords, use the advanced search option of the library database to combine your search terms using the techniques below for broadening and narrowing your search results.
For example, in the Choosing Keywords video, the two keywords selected are "video games" and "violence." On the advanced search screen, you would enter "video games" in one box and "violence" in the other. Most advanced search screens have "AND" automatically selected between the search boxes.
Use ORs and parentheses to combine synonyms or multiple topics
(oil OR petroleum OR crude)
(antibiotic OR antiviral)
(woman OR girl OR female)
Truncate roots of important words* to find plurals and more
perform* (searches for perform, performance, performativity, etc.)
cell$
pregnan!
Insert a “wild card” [*?$!] to catch words with different spellings
wom?n
coloni#ation
odo$r
*Truncation and wild cards work differently in different databases. Check the help section of the database to learn what symbol to use and how to properly use it.
Try some of the following keywords when searching for resources on the topics in this class:
| Asylum seekers | Qualitative |
| Migrants | Measurement invariance |
| Unaccompanied minors | Cross-cultural Assessment |
| Mental health | Idioms of distress |
| Posttraumatic stress disorder | Feasibility |
| PTSD | trauma-informed care |
| Depression | individual psychotherapy |
| Anxiety | group psychotherapy |
| Grief | family therapy |
| Somatic symptom disorders | acculturation |
| Mental disorders | risk factors |
| Transcultural psychiatry | protective factors |
| Asylum medicine | resilience |
| Forensic evaluation | posttraumatic growth |
| Vulnerable populations | post-migration stressors |
| Clinical forensics | social determinants of health |
| Human rights | social engagement |
| Refugee Health | social networks |
| Immigration policy | health-seeking |
| Psychological trauma | lay-provider |
| Trauma | task-shifting |
| Life events | mental health provider |
| Stress | stigma |
| Visa status | persecution |
| Domestic violence | torture |
| Interpersonal violence | migration |
| Gender-based violence | Migrant-Protection protocols |
| FGM | Detention |
| Female genital mutilation |
Combine concepts with AND to find more relevant sources
picasso AND Africa
internet AND privacy
bedrock AND Massachusetts AND hydrology
Use “double quotes” to find exact phrases
"rock art"
“African diaspora”
“invertible matrix”
Use proximity searching* to find words near each other
women NEAR violence
progressive NEAR/10 tax
"global warming" NEAR/20 "sea level"
*Proximity searching works differently in different databases. Check the help section of the database to learn how to properly use it.