KW, or TX, AU, TI, SU, AB...?

Yes, there's lots of choices to search by in a database like Academic Search. The default search is by "KW," or "keyword." This search looks for the word or words you have entered in the basic search "fields," or areas, for example in titles (TI) of articles, author (AU) names... A lot of the time that's a good search to start out with, but occasionally you might want to tailor your search a little more closely.

For example, if you want to find articles by a certain author, change the dropdown box from keyword (KW) to author (AU.) Or if you are only getting a few, or no, results for your initial keyword search, try searching in "TX," not Texas, lol, but "All text." That means the search looks through every word in every record, not just titles etc., but all the words in the articles.

Most of the time a basic search is all you need to do. But occasionally it helps to get more focused, use some of these other search options. If you're not sure which is right for you, just ask us!