Stop words are insignificant terms that show up in database records. Stop words include the following:
It's important to be mindful of stop words in order to have more precise results when searching library databases. Most databases will ignore common words if they're included in a search, which can often retrieve far too many results with little resemblance to your research topic. There are also many databases that recognize stop words when they're included as part of a controlled vocabulary for subject headings. An example: "Balance of power".
If a search requires the use of a stop word, performing a phrase search would be most effective. You would enclose your search in quotations or parentheses, like the following: "out of home care". This ensures the database will retrieve results with the aforementioned phrase search.