The use of the asterisk (*) is a "wildcard" that most databases use to search a root word and variable endings in order to be more efficient, such as automatically including singular and plural, other forms of a word. Use quotation marks around phrases so they are searched as phrases.
For example: "chican*" will retrieve "chicana," "chicanas," "chicano," "chicanos," etc.
The use of the word "or" in between synonyms or related words broadens search results by including either term in the search results. For example:
chican* or latin* or hispanic* or "mexican american*"
When searching historical resources consider how usage changes over time. For example:
negro* or "afro american*" or black* or "african american*"
The use of the word "and" between keywords narrows search results by requiring that both terms must appear in the search results. For example:
deaf* and los angeles
Use parentheses or enter groups of terms in separate search boxes within the databases when you combine "or" and "and" searches. For example:
(muslim* or islam*) and (women or female*)
Media Coverage Keywords
The following search terms can be entered along with subject specific keywords to get articles on this concept:
(cover* or image* or portray* or stereotyp* or represent* or depict* or bias*)
Example: (gay* or lesbian* or homosexual* or queer or lgbt) and (cover* or image* or portray* or stereotyp* or represent* or depict*)
(media or news* or press or journalis* or reporter* or reporting)
Example: "asian american*" and women and (media or news* or press or journalis* or reporter* or reporting)