Understand Your Search Results
Hopefully, your search will return a list of results consisting of citations. Sometimes you hit the jackpot with your first search, but often you'll find that you need to modify your search.
Here's a quick technique for modifying your search:
- From your results, find a relevant article
- Look in the subjects and abstract of the article for the words they use.
- Add these terms to your search.
Getting Your Hands on the "Articles"
Databases often index different types of sources.
Some of the sources that you'll often find include:
| Source Type.... | Use.... |
| Journal Article | Find Full Text link (within record) |
| Book Article, Book Chapter | Library Catalog (search for title of book, not chapter title) |
| Book Review |
Too many results?
- Add additional keywords to your search using AND.
Ex. instead of recycling, search for recycling AND colleges
- Use limits to filter out unwanted citations
Too few results?
- Search for fewer concepts. Instead of recycling AND promote AND colleges, try recycling AND colleges.
- Add in more synonyms or variations of the word