Before you begin searching, you will need to identify key concepts and terms related to your topic. These key concepts and terms are often referred to as "keywords." Creating a list of keywords related to your research question will help you find resources efficiently and effectively.
|
Research Question |
Keywords |
Tip |
|
What are the causes of homelessness in America? |
Homelessness America |
Don’t use “soft words” like: cause effect impact benefits |
|
How has rising college tuition impacted students? |
College Tuition Students |
You may start to discover new terms and phrases: “Tuition increase” “Tuition hike” “College costs” “Graduation rates” Put phrases in “quotations”. |
|
Do cell phones cause brain cancer? |
“Cell phones” “Brain Cancer” |
Think of synonyms: “mobile phone” “smart phone” “cellular phone” … And broad terms Cancer |
|
How does the WWF gain support for programming? |
WWF Programming |
Spell out acronyms to ensure accuracy: “World Wildlife Fund” (not to be confused with) “World Wrestling Federation” |
Now that you've created your list of keywords you can begin the process of building your search. Use Limiters to narrow the focus of your search so that the information retrieved from the databases you search is limited according to the values you select. You can use more than one limiter if more than one is available.
Common limiters that may appear in the Limit your results area include:
• Full Text – Click to limit results to articles with full text.
• Image Quick View – Click to limit results to articles that contain Image Quick View images available.
• Cover Story – Click to limit results to articles that were featured as cover stories.
• Local Titles – Click to limit results to articles available at your library.
• Journal/Magazine – Enter a journal/magazine name in this field to limit results to articles only from that title.
• Abstract Available – Click to limit results to articles that include an abstract summarizing the contents of the article.
• Peer Reviewed – Limits search results to articles from peer-reviewed journals. Peer-reviewed journals are publications that include only those articles that have been reviewed and/or qualified by a selected panel of acknowledged experts in the field of study covered by the journal.
• Date Published – Use this option to search for articles within a specified date range. Create a range by using the drop-down lists to specify the months of the range and enter the last four digits of the year in the entry fields to specify the years of the range.
• Number of Pages – Enter a number in this field to limit results to a specific number of pages in length. Place the < (less than) or > (greater than) symbol before the number to search for articles with a specific page length range. For example: to search for articles that are greater than three pages in length, enter >3 in this field. You can also use a dash to enter a range of pages. For example, to find articles between five and ten pages long, enter 5 - 10.