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ENGL 201: English Composition II

  • Match databases to the topic.
    • Some databases are multidisciplinary (Academic Search Complete)
    • Some databases are discipline specific (CINAHL for nursing, ERIC for education, Naxos for music, etc.)
    • Use the A-Z Database list and Subject Dropdown Menu to find subject-specific databases
  • Break your topic into keywords. Databases don't like full sentences.
    • Pick out the main points of your topic; see Topic Narrowing
    • Good research topics usually have 2-4 keywords
    • Too few keywords = too many results
    • Too many keywords = not enough or no results
  • Try to think of other ways to say each keyword.
    • If you're looking for articles on soda, you may also have to use "pop," "soft drink," "cola," "carbonated beverage," etc.
    • Many databases have a thesaurus that will show you what words, or Subject Headings, they use.
  • Know the difference between Keywords and Subject Headings
    Keywords Subject Headings
    Natural language words Controlled vocabulary, sometimes jargon
    Good for obscure or new topics Good for general and established topics
    Can generate irrelevant results Usually generates highly relevant results
    Need to think of all variations or alternatives Need to know the correct term
    Quick and flexible way to start research Less flexible, not always appropriate
    Searches several fields (title, abstract, subject headings, etc.) Searches Subject Heading field only

Pearl Growing, aka Snowballing, is a method helpful in early research that uses one information item (like a subject term, a keyword, or a citation) to find more information. It builds on what you already have. 

  • Start by identifying a good source for your topic (central circle).
  • Look at the Subject Headings or Keywords.
  • Use those Subject Headings or Keywords to find additional sources (the circles that radiate from the center)
    • Bonus: on the library's website, Subjects work like hashtags.
  • Evaluate the new list to identify new pearls to find more resources.

A simple grayscale visualization of Pearl Growing using circles and lines. The circles represent Pearls or ideas while the lines represent the flow pattern of the ideas. The center circle/idea radiates three circles/ideas, which in turn radiate their own circles/ideas. All are options for your research process.

Pearl Growing with Tools

 

A library record for the article "Omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids: Dietary sources, metabolism, and significance - a review." Red arrow tools are indicated with a black oval. These red arrow tools will find articles that cite this article and find articles that this article cites.

Boolean Operators help you define the set of results you want the database to show you.

AND — displays results that have both the terms searched for. This is a narrower search.

Example: If you have 15 items (5 cat, 5 dog, 5 cat & dog), a search for cat AND dog will bring up results for books and articles that have both "cat" and "dog" in them: 5 results.

OR — displays results that have at least one of the terms searched for. This is a broader search.

Example: If you have 15 items (5 cat, 5 dog, 5 cat and dog), a search for cat OR dog will bring up results for books and articles that have either "cat" or "dog" in them: 15 results.

NOT — a way of excluding something. The term that comes after NOT is excluded. This is a narrower search.

Example: If you have 15 items (5 cat, 5 dog, 5 cat and dog), a search for cat NOT dog will bring up results for books and articles that have "cat" in them but excludes results that have "dog" in them: 5 results.

A visual representation of how each Boolean operator works using Venn Diagrams. There are three diagrams. Each has two overlapping circles, one labeled "puppy" and the other labeled "kitten." The AND diagram shows the middle, overlapping section highlighted, indicating that a search for "puppy AND kitten" returns results that have both words. The OR diagram shows both circles, including the overlapping portion, highlighted, indicating that a search for "puppy OR kitten" returns results that have either word as well as results that have both words. The NOT diagram shows only the non-overlapping portion of the “puppy” circle highlighted, indicating that a search for “puppy NOT kitten” eliminates all results that have “kitten” in it, including those that have both words. Image citation: "Using the Databases." Research - Expert Level. Crossett Library at Bennington College. 13 May 2016.

Using wildcards is a way to expand your search possibilities. These techniques work in most databases (but not all).

Wildcards — a symbol used to represent any 1 character. Use # symbol or sometimes * symbol.

Wildcards can usually be used 1) at the end of a word or 2) within a word to search variant spellings of a word. See Truncation for a technique to represent more than 1 character. You can use more than one wildcard symbol to stand in for more than one character.

Example: wom#n retrieves woman or women

Using truncation is a way to expand your search possibilities. These techniques work in most databases (but not all).

Truncation — a symbol added to the end of the root of a word to instruct the database to search for all forms of a word. Use the * symbol in most databases.

Example: adolescen* retrieves adolescent, adolescents, or adolescence

Use quotation marks (" ") around phrases. This forces the database to search for that exact phrase, not all the words in any place or in any combination

"under the sea": 5,598,722 results

under the sea: 6,242,800 results

The default is for the search to look in "any field." This is great for a beginning, broad search but less helpful for specific searching.

Using Advanced Search, you can select which "field" you want to search:

A screenshot of the advanced search of Dragon OneSearch with the search field options open to show Any Field, Title, Author/Creator, Subject, and Genre with more options not shown.