A keyword search is generally not a one-shot exercise. As you search, pay attention to the results you receive and adjust your search strategy to build a better search to find additional relevant results. As you search, pay attention to any similar search terms in the results that speak to your topic and integrate these terms into a new search.
Each database has its own searching defaults, however the following general tips tend to carry from platform to platform:
Use an asterisk (*) to Truncate words in your search:
Example: Searching for econom* will find economY, economICS, economICAL, etc
Search example: You need to write a paper on entrepreneurs and product development.
AND
Use AND to narrow a search and retrieve records containing all of the words it separates, e.g. adolescents AND children will only find records containing both these words.
OR
Use OR to broaden a search and retrieve records containing any of the words it separates, e.g.adolescents OR children will find records containing adolescents only, children only, or both words.
NOT
Use NOT to narrow a search and retrieve records that do not contain the term following it, e.g. adolescents NOT children will find records that contain adolescents, but will not contain the word children.