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Having literally thousands of database search results can be a real drag. Literally no one wants to look through all of those.
Luckily, you can use database limiters to help refine your search result number and narrow things down by relevancy. All databases have this ability, but may vary in options and the way they look. Either way, you have a lot of filtering options!
1. Limit by Date Range: You can use the drop down at the top to limit by date of publication.
2. Limit by Source Type: At the top under Source Type, you can also choose to limit by types of publication materials including journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, reports, and more. You can choose more than one option at a time by checking the checkbox next to each source type and clicking Apply.
3. Limit by Subject: Major Heading: Using this limiter, you can see what categories your search results fall under. Click All filters and scroll down to Subject: Major Heading. Select as many as you would like (and don't worry if the hit count numbers don't add up!) and click Apply near the bottom. This is particularly useful for helping to narrow down a large set of results.
4. Limit by Tests & Measures and Methodology: Some databases have this feature, and others don't. Tests & Measures helps you find specific measurement tools that are referenced in your search results. Methodology allows you to limit by research article type (empirical, qualitative, quantitative, interviews, etc.). Click All filters and scroll down to the corresponding filter. Select as many as you would like and click Apply near the bottom.
Tutorials created by: Eugenia Opuda Gifs created in Camtasia or taken online from Giphy