Searching library resources is not like searching Google where you enter a phrase or question into the search box and get results. Enter words that represent the concept you are searching. You can enter multiple words using AND or OR. Don't enter a sentence or long phrase into the search box.
Use AND or OR
Use care when adding ANDs or ORs to your search.
AND will narrow your search. For every word searched with AND, the database will search for results with ALL of those words. So with each added keyword, you will get fewer results.
OR will broaden your search. This is very effective if you are not getting enough results. Search similar keywords/concepts, e.g. women or female. It's essentially doing 2 searches at once. This is useful if you are not sure what words/terms are used in articles.
Narrow By Date
Think about the date range you want to search. You can adjust the dates searched in all databases to get articles, books, movies published within a specific time range.
Be Creative
Try different search terms + Search more than one database
Use multiple search words and phrases.
Search in more than one database: each database contains a different set of articles.
Look for many different points of view on your topic.
Find more articles than you need, so you can choose the best ones.