1. Write your question at the top of a piece of paper. Next, create a table of rows and columns and place the most important words and phrases at the top. Make a list of synonyms for all terms and phrases contained in your original search beneath those terms. Look at the list of databases which may be of specific use. You may also want to include more general databases such as OneSearch. You may, instead, want to consider specific sources such as ProQuest Academic Search Complete, or JSTOR which is an archive databases and works backward in time (i.e., not current).
2. Begin to experiment with your search terms. Pay attention to the results. Even seemingly useless results are helpful if they give you new terms. Be a word detective and look for the best terms. Look for Subject Headings and Descriptors for additional terms. Also, try using a thesaurus or the library subject heading books for more ideas.
3. Continue experimenting with new terms you find. As you do, you will see that certain terms and combinations yield better results than others. Write down those combinations.
4. If searches are too large, use limiting features such as date, format, etc. If you find too few, do Author searches for articles you do have. Turn off all limits to expand your search, if you have too little.
5. When you come back another day, your search will change as you will have read more articles for class or an assignment, read your textbook, or interacted with your professor or classmate.
6. What happens the end? Your hard work will yield relevant results. Sometimes it seems like forever as you do this. The process will speed up as you get more practice!
As you progress deeper into the search, you will notice that your results become fewer. Throughout the process, you need to remember to corroborate your sources, especially if it comes from the Internet.
While this may be from Google, these are still valid searching principles that can be transferred to any subject discipline and databases.