Rhode Island Resources - Community Users

For search tips when using the various newspaper databases, please see our main Newspapers Guide (first link below).

Carrying out searches in newspaper databases can be overwhelming. Here are some tips Brown University Librarian Karen Bouchard created to help you find what you need more easily.

• Use Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT.  Using "AND" between search terms will search for articles that contain all the words. Using "OR" will find articles that contain either search term but not necessarily both. Using "NOT" will eliminate terms from your search. For instance:
   
  • Lincoln AND Gettysburg will find articles (or possibly entire pages) that include both words, though they may not be related to each other.
  • Manasses OR "Bull Run" will find articles that mention either term.
  • Gettysburg NOT Battle will find articles that mention Gettysburg but do not include the word "battle."

• Use quotation marks to search phrases: "Underground railroad" will search the entire phrase together. If you don't use the quotation marks, you could get results that mention both words separately but have nothing to do with your search.
   
• If using quotation marks on names, be careful to try alternatives as a person's name might vary in different articles -- perhaps including a middle initial sometimes or a nickname or even being misspelled.
   
• Use Wildcards. In most (but not all) databases an asterisk at the end of a truncated word will get you different endings. For instance:
  • Doctor* will get you these results: Doctor, Doctors, Doctoral, Doctorate.
  • An asterisk or question mark inside of a word will get different spellings: Wom*n or Wom?n will find Women and Woman (wildcards will vary by database).
     
• Nesting: You can create complex searches by putting some terms in parentheses. For instance:
  • (Forest OR Woods) AND Conservation will get results for the term Conservation combined with either Forest or Woods.
     
• In general, keep alternative search terms in mind. Newspaper databases are not indexed by subject, so a different author might use different terms or a term may have changed over time and you need to search on all the alternatives in order to be sure you find everything. Be aware that terms we might consider offensive today may have been common in the past. When you read articles that you've found, note the words they use and go back and do more searches using those new words. See section below for a thesaurus of keywords.