If we are doing searches and the results pages are filled with irrelevant (off-topic) results, too many results, or very few results, we will need to make some changes to our search strategy.
When we get lots of irrelevant results we may need to adjust our search terms. Our terms may have multiple meanings in multiple contexts. If there isn't a more precise word, we can either include another term to add context, or use an advanced search feature to exclude the context we don't want.
It's also possible that we are looking in the wrong place. We should always ask ourselves, are we looking in the right kind of place for this information?
When we get millions of results, many of them are likely to be somewhat off topic from what we wanted. Add more search terms, and consider using some filters to narrow your results to a more manageable number.
When we only get a few results, we are probably either using too many search terms, or we are looking in the wrong place. It's also possible that our terminology is wrong for the context. Most scholarly articles are written with specialized, technical terminology and they may not even contain the common, everyday term that we used as a search term.
When we're searching in a library database, a "just right" search will typically contain a few hundred results. When searching in tools like OneSearch or Google, since they contain a huge amount of sources, "just right" will typically be a few thousand results. The other sign of being on the right track is that the first 20 results contain many promising titles.
