When searching databases or the Online Catalog, consider the following when entering your keyword search terms:
1. Are there multiple terms that could be used for your topic?
For example: food or eating
archaeology or prehistory or antiquities
anthropology or culture
farming or agriculture
2. Are there ways to "truncate" a term to pick up alternative spellings or singular/plural?
For example: anthropolog* for anthropology or anthropological
prehistor* for prehistory or prehistoric
cultur* for culture or cultural or cultures
diet* for diet or diets or dietary
ethnograph* for ethnography, ethnographies, ethnographic
food* for food, foods, foodways
Note: The most common truncation symbol used in databases is an asterisk *. The Online Catalog uses a question mark ?.
3. Use those additional terms and truncated words in your search statement.
Examples of search statements: food* and ethnograph*
food* and (anthropolog* or cultur* or ethnograph*)
cereal* and (domestication or agricultur* or cultivation or crops)
food and (security or insecurity)
foodways and (ancient or prehistor* or archaeolog* or antiquit*)
