Assignment #3: Creating Search Statements

UL100

When you are searching for information, it is important to write your search statements in a way
that will locate resources relevant to and informative of your topic. This includes knowing what
key terms or concepts are primary to your topic, thinking of synonyms that can substitute for
those terms, being comfortable using Boolean operators and limiters, and being prepared to
combine all of these elements into a number of search statements to find the best results.
Instructions:
1. Revise your research question to include at least two key concepts if it doesnt already. Your
question shouldnt be too broad or too narrow. Write your revised research statement below:
How does the origin and type of food borne pathogens affect the seriousness of potential health
complications?
2. What are the key terms/concepts from your research topic (at least two)?
Concept 1: origin of foodborne pathogens
Concept 2: type/strain
Concept 3: health complications
3. What are some synonyms or related terms for your key concepts? (Try to think of at least 2
synonyms per concept.)
Concepts

Synonym 1

Synonym 2

Synonym 3

origin

source

producer

root

type

form

strain

category

health
complications

illness

disease

!
4. Pretend the boxes below are search boxes in a database. Enter your search in a way that will
return good results, using at least three of the Boolean operators listed below:
Use NOT to exclude terms
Use "OR" to link synonyms and related terms. Use "AND" to link different concepts.
Put quotes (" ") around multi-word concepts.

Concept 1
origins of food borne pathogens
(

Use the asterisk (*) to "truncate"

Assignment #3: Creating Search Statements

UL100

Concept 2
foodborne pathogens and illness
(

)
Concept 3
strains of food borne pathogens not viruses

!
5. Now run your search in Academic Search Complete, using the following limiters. Clear each
previous limiter before applying the next.
Limiter Applied

No. of Results

Relevance/Quality of First 10 Results

No limiters applied, just the

keywords.

798

Fairly relevant to my topic, most directly

pertaining to illness from food borne
pathogens.

Limit to "scholarly journals"

747

Same 10 articles appeared

Limit to articles published in

last 10 years

729

Same 10 articles appeared

Limit to articles published in

last 5 years

431

Same 10 articles appeared

Limit by selecting a term

from "Subject Terms" list

Not relevant to what I need. They were

specific cases of pathogens, not the illness
they cause.

Apply any two from above

691

Same 10 articles as the first four searches

408

Same 10 articles as the first four searches

Which did you choose?

scholarly journals and last 10
years
Apply any three from above
Which did you choose?
scholarly journals, last 5
years, and academic journals

6. Which limiter or combination of limiters seems to give you the best results?
Scholarly journals and last 10 years

Assignment #3: Creating Search Statements

UL100

7. Now, use the search strategy that gives you the best results. Run the search, and look through
the first few pages of results. Find three articles that answer your research question. How does
the quality of these articles compare to articles you found previously?

Strain variability of the behavior of food borne bacterial pathogens: A review by Alexandria
Lianou & Konstantinos Koutsoumanis

Human Diseases Caused by Foodborne Pathogens of Animal Origin by Morton N. Swartz

Modeling the relationship between food animal health & human food borne illness by Randall S.
Singer, Louis A. Cox, James S. Dickson, Scott H. Hord, Ian Phillips, Gay Y. Miller.

These articles are of the same quality as the results I found before. However, they are relevant to
my research question.