1. What type of article do you need? Are you looking for a scholarly or non-scholarly article?
2. Keywords - make a list of the most important words and ideas associated with your topic. Look back at your concept map.
3. AND, OR, NOT - combine your keywords using Boolean Operators to search the databases more efficiently.
4. Limit the Search - incorporate limiters to focus your result list.
Modifiers are additional tricks that you can use to control your result lists.
Database Search Modifiers
ASTERISK * - use the * to search multiple variations of a word in one search. For example, admin* will search for administrator, administration, and administrators
QUOTATION MARKS " " - use " " to search for an exact phrase. For example, "starving artist"
PARENTHESES ( ) - use ( ) to encapsulate an OR search. For example, (horses OR ponies)
Modifiers for a Google search are similar to database modifiers. Click here for a list of Google search modifiers.
Bibliographies are an easy and reliable way to locate additional research on your topic. Quickly find primary resources, experts, and essential readings on the topic.
Follow the flow chart below to know which research tool you should use to locate resources found in a bibliography.