chat loading...
|
|||
Call: 413-662-5321 |
Text: 413-241-6662 | ||
Schedule a Research Consultation. |
Check our FAQ |
Just Starting? Visit our Research Guides
BE PERSISTENT!
The first search that a researcher types in almost never brings back exactly what they need. It's not at all uncommon for the first search that you try in a library database to yield zero results! This doesn't mean that there is nothing on your topic in the database. Try different words; try adding or removing limiters; and, if you're still not having luck, talk with a librarian or your instructor -- we can help!
Sorting: Check whether results are being presented in chronological order (newest to oldest) or relevance order (most relevant to least relevant). Choose the option that best suits your needs.
Formulating your search: Databases respond better to single words or short phrases than to long, natural language queries. Connect words and phrases with AND or OR.
Databases tend to have official subject headings that they use for different topics. Try to find out which subject headings apply to your search. (Look at the database record of a good article to see which subject headings were used, or search the database's thesaurus directly.)
Sometimes it makes more sense to use advanced search options or limiters than words to narrow your search.
If your search could include a number of related words (e.g. athlete, athletes, athletic, etc.), most databases let you use a wildcard to search for all of them at once.
If you find one good source, you can exploit its bibliography to find more similar sources, OR search for the source in Google Scholar and click "Cited By" to see newer articles that cited that source.