This document provides guidance on effective searching for logistics topics. It discusses identifying keywords and synonyms, using Boolean operators like AND and OR to combine search terms, and constructing effective search phrases. It also provides tips for searching the library catalog and Google, including using quotation marks, parentheses, and domain/file type limiters. Exercises throughout demonstrate how to search for specific logistics topics, find a book using its call number, and identify a table title from a cited source. The document concludes by sharing tips for Google Scholar and profiles, and providing the librarian's contact details and a link to the logistics library guide.

1. Logistics Honours:
Effective Searching
Pepler Head
FacultyLibrarian:EconomicandManagementSciences
peplerh@sun.ac.za

2. In this session we’ll be looking at
Effective searching
Boolean Operators
Library Catalogue
Google & Google Scholar

3. Step 1: Identify your keywords
3
Write down your topic:
An investigation into consumer buying behaviour
of alcoholic beverages in specialist retailer outlets
in South Africa
Main Concepts:
Consumer behaviour
Alcohol
South Africa

4. Step 2: Identify Synonyms
4
Concept 1 Concept 2 Concept 3
Consumer
behaviour
Alcohol South Africa
Consumer
behavior
Alcoholic
beverages
An investigation into consumer buying
behaviour of alcoholic beverages in specialist
retailer outlets in South Africa

5. Step 3: Combine Keywords
5
Boolean Operators - AND / OR / NOT
AND – returns results with both keywords
OR – returns results with one or the other
keyword
NOT – returns results excluding specific
keywords

6. Step 3: Combine Keywords
6
Boolean Operators - AND / OR / NOT

7. Step 3: Combine Keywords
7
Boolean Operators - AND / OR / NOT
Quotation Marks “ ” – keep keywords
together, for exact phrase searching
Brackets ( ) – keep concepts together, used for
synonyms

8. Step 4: Constructing search phrase
8
Combin
e with
AND AND AND
OR “consumer
behaviour”
“Alcoholic
beverages”
“South
Africa”
OR “consumer
behavior”
Liquor
OR

9. Step 4: Constructing search phrase
9
(“consumer behaviour” OR
“consumer behavior”) AND
(“alcoholic beverages” OR liquor)
AND “South Africa”

10. Your Turn – exercise
10
Unpacking the technical
and perception barriers to
electric vehicle uptake in
South Africa

11. Your Turn – exercise
11
(“electric cars” OR “electric
vehicles” OR “hybrid cars”)
AND “South Africa” AND
(barriers OR perceptions)

12. Library Catalogue
12

13. Library Catalogue – Exercise
13
Koepsel, K. 2018. The Aerospace Supply
Chain and Cyber Security: Challenges Ahead.
Warrendale: SAE International.
Find the above book and give me the shelf
number

14. 14
Google Indexing
▪ Full text indexing
▪ Search keywords can be anywhere in document:
Title, abstract, url, full text, reference list etc.
▪ Important to search very specifically

15. 15
Google Indexing - Exercise
Search the below phrase and tell me which book it is from:
This great law of economics results in the equally famous
supply curve. Without the supply curve, many of the chart-
based theories of economics fall apart.

16. 16
Google Search tips
▪ Google puts an AND between spaces
▪ Case does not matter - except for operators
(AND/OR/NOT)
▪ Can use + (AND) or - (NOT)
▪ Word order matters, Google ranks results according to
the order you search in
▪ Google ignores punctuation

17. 17
Google Search tips
▪ Search specific domains:
▪ Search specific files or results:
filetype:
intitle:
inurl:

18. 18
Google Search tips - Exercise
We are looking for the following:
1. Transnet 2020 risk report
2. A pdf document on the development of ports
in Africa
3. Articles on reverse logistics in the publishing
industry

19. 19
Google Search tips - Exercise
Final tips:
Google Scholar Profiles
Cited by – snowballing

20. Google Scholar

21. Google Scholar

22. 22
Final Exercise
Provide the title of the below table:
Boysen, N., De Koster, R. and Weidinger, F.,
2019. Warehousing in the e-commerce era:
A survey. European Journal of Operational
Research, 277(2), pp.396-411.

23. 23
Final Exercise
Provide the title of the below table:
Table 1: Surveyed literature sorted by
warehousing system and decision problem

24. 24
Library Guide
Databases – finding articles

25. Pepler Head
peplerh@sun.ac.za
Tel : (021) 808-9576
Logistics Library Guide:
http://libguides.sun.ac.za/logistics
THANK YOU