Here are some examples of effective and ineffective searches for books and articles. Topic: How effective/important is recycling? How much does it actually help the environment?

Examle of an ineffective search: <is recycling good for the environment.> This search doesn't work well because:

• it contains too many small filler words.
• it is phrased as a question, rather than as keywords
• the word "good" is too general and vague.
• Better alternatives for "good" might be "impact," "effects," "benefits," etc.

Here are some examples of better searches:

 recycling environment*

 recycling climate change

 recycling effect*

These searches are effective because they:

• contain 2-4 terms,
• translate the topic into terms that researchers would use, and
• include only the main concepts.