Abstract
This paper discusses the results of a survey sent to online searchers in four countries: the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Canada. The survey form provided a sample question and asked searchers to prepare a preliminary strategy for a search in the Sociological Abstracts database. American searchers depend on controlled vocabulary much more than British searchers. Australian searchers have created their own search pattern, while Canadian searchers have blended the American and British patterns. In reviewing results of the searches, over half of the citations retrieved were retrieved by more than one search. Australian searchers were more likely to retrieve items that no other search retrieved, while Canadian searchers had the highest overlap rate.