Welcome to Research 101 -- your online crash course in conducting scholarly research and finding sources or information for papers, projects, and life! Here you'll find advice about developing a search strategy as well as tips and tricks for how to best search for information on databases.
Conduct background reading to better understand your topic. Try using reference sources (scroll down to "Reference eBooks") to discover the important facts surrounding your topic such as dates, people, important terms and concepts, etc.
Have questions? Need help with research or citations? The St. Augustine College Library is here to help!
Contact the Library with any questions at AFox@staugustine.edu
LIBRARY HELP DESK
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IT HELP DESK
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1. Choose a research topic
2. Develop a research question
3. Choose your keywords. These are typically formed from the main concepts in your research question
4. Find synonyms and related concepts for your keywords. Having multiple options for search terms and searching them in different combinations will open up more and different results. Remember, different people -- such as patients vs doctors -- use different terms to refer to the same concept.
5. Start searching! A good strategy is to start with general, multi-disciplinary databases or eBooks and move to subject-specific databases. Check out our ARTICLES & DATABASES and eBOOKS pages for suggestions of resources and helpful tutorial videos!
Not every article you find is going to be right for this specific paper. Use the following criteria to determine whether this article is appropriate for your research needs:
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1. Currency: How timely is your article? |
Think about: When was the information published or posted? Has the information been revised or updated? Is the information current or out-of-date for your topic? |
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2. Authority: What is the source of the information? |
Think about: Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor? What are the author’s qualifications to write on the topic? Are they affiliated with any organizations or groups? |
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3. Accuracy: How reliable or truthful is the content? |
Think about: Where does the information come from? Is the information supported by evidence? Has the information been reviewed? Can you verify any of the information in another source? Is there a bibliography? |
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4. Purpose: Why does the information exist? |
Think about: What is the purpose of this information? (To inform or persuade?) Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear? Is the information fact or interpretation of facts? Opinion? Propaganda? Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional or personal biases? |
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5. Relevance: How well does the information fit your needs? |
Think about: Does the information closely relate to your topic or answer a question you have? Who is the intended audience? (Experts? General public?) Is the information at an appropriate level? (Not too narrow, not too general?) What will this source add to your research project? |
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6. Scholarly: Is this article scholarly or not? |
Think about: What is the source of publication? Is the author affiliated with a university or research institute? Does the article report original research? Is it peer-reviewed? |
Use Boolean Operators for a more precise search!
OR = increase your results. Combine synonyms or similar terms to increase the number of results.
Example: groups OR organizations OR associations RETRIEVES articles that contain any of those 3 words
AND = narrow your results. Combine different concepts to narrow your search.
Example: students AND kindergarten RETRIEVES articles that contain both of those words.
NOT = narrow your results. Combine different concepts to reduce your search by excluding some words.
Example: students NOT kindergarten RETRIEVES articles about all students except kindergarten students.
Watch this video prepared by McMaster University about using Boolean operators and search techniques
Phrases
Enclose phrases in " " to find all words together: "culinary arts" or "gun control"
Shorten search terms
Shorten search terms and add a * to retrieve singular, plural, and variant spellings.
advertis* : retrieves advertise, advertisers, advertising, advertisement, advertisements
Use limits
Most databases will allow you to apply limits to your searches and results, such as publication date, source type, scholarly, etc.
Search multiple databases
Try your search in more than one database. EBSCO will let you search multiple databases simultaneously. Look for "choose databases" above the search box. In ProQuest, use the "change databases" link in the banner to select multiple databases to search.
Use subject headings for a more precise search
Most journal article databases use controlled vocabulary to make searching for journal articles more specific. Knowing the best subject heading will improve your specific search. Use a database's THESAURUS (controlled vocabulary) to choose the best words for your SUBJECT search.
Watch this video prepared by Western University about using subject headings or descriptors.