Once you are happy with your results, you should save them. There are various ways you can do this.
Some library resources will let you create a personal account (see the library resources pages for more information) with which you can save searches, search results and if available, the full-text of individual search results. It's useful to save previous searches, as this saves a lot of time if you have to repeat your search (if you didn't save your search, would you be able to do retrace your steps easily?). Regarding search results and full-text, it's probably preferable not to do this with a personal account: you might end up with all your saved results scattered across different resources. It's probably better to keep your saved files in one place. You can do this using...
Reference management software is software that will organise and store search results and full-text of articles, either on your device, or if you create an account, in the cloud. Mendeley and Zotoro are two of the most widely used software packages and are free to use, though you an pay for extra features. The library recommends Zotero, though Mendeley is perfectly adequate. Don't however use software for the sake of using it. If you're comfortable installing and using software, then by all means go ahead, but if you're not a confident computer users, then don't
If you're more comfortable dealing with printed notes, then consider using a small file box with alphabetically indexed cards for taking the details of relevant search results or creating a reference list. Use an expandable file folder to store hard copies of full-text articles that you have found in your searching.
Hooray! Your search is complete, well done you! You've found what you're looking for and are ready to move on. Before you do however, why not take some time to think about what went well during the search and what didn't go well. Is there anything you'd do differently? Why not take note of these and use them to help you be more efficient during your next search.
