Use AND to connect words that must appear in a document. This *narrows* your search.
"history of ideas" OR "history of knowledge"
Use OR if only one word must appear in a document. This *broadens* your search.
democra*
Use an asterisk to truncate a word and allow for different endings, for example, democratic, democracy.
"Meno's paradox"
Use quotation marks to enclose a phrase or words that must appear together in a document.
Plato NOT software
Use NOT to exclude words or terms from a search. (If you're looking for articles on Plato the ancient Greek philosopher, you don't want articles on PLATO the math software.)
Library Guides -- and Subject Guides in particular -- can help you choose databases that are relevant to a specific disciplinary approach. There is a Subject Guide that corresponds with each Whitman major.