Online Research Techniques | | Learning good research techniques will save time and contribute to better papers |
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Using Boolean Terms
- Although many people do research without giving the slightest thought to Boolean logic, knowing how it is used can give you power over a search engine. To use this feature on most databases, click on the advanced search part and type keywords in spaces that are joined by Boolean terms. If you don't see "AND, OR, NOT" on the search screen this feature may not be supported and you should check their help section. Boolean logic is simple to use and consists of only three terms:
"AND" narrows your search by requiring two or more words to occur in the same document. Entering apples AND grapes means the pages retrieved need to contain both terms.
"OR" will bring up documents that contain either one or both of the keywords entered.
"NOT" removes a portion of your search results. Virus NOT computer will remove articles about computer viruses but leave articles about other types of viruses (i.e. biological) in your results.
Remember that computers cannot think; they merely follow their programmed instructions. Using Boolean logic allows control of the search process by structuring the search to yield more precise results.
Resources:A PRIMER IN BOOLEAN LOGIC
- Search Engine Math
- Boolean Searching
?, * and other marks
Wild cards, like the ones used in poker, stand for something else. An * can truncate or shorten words. Horse* for instance would produce documents that included horseman, horseless, horsefly, horseplay. ? can mean any letter that might occur in a word. Wom?n would include articles on women and woman. T??th would include teeth and tooth. ? is useful if you are not sure of the spelling of a word and want to include alternative spellings. Double quotation marks (" ") indicate that the words typed are a phase. Searching for "on the shoulders of giants" would more reliably find information about the book by Stephen Hawking than the Boolean shoulders AND giants.
Resources:
- How to Narrow or Broaden A Topic
- Truncation or wildcards
Locating Scholarly Journals
- Many assignments require the use of scholarly or peer-reviewed journals. Although the library no longer has subscriptions to very many scholarly journals, thousands are available in our online databases. The easiest way to access these articles is to use ProQuest or Wilson and limit your results to scholarly journals.
Resources:
- ProQuest Research Library
- Wilson OmniFile
Choosing a Database
- No way exists, currently, to query all of our databases with one search string. Each database will have to be searched separately. You will need to decide which database to use based on your needs. Will the information you want be found in books? Do you need to use magazines? What about graphics and audiovisuals? All databases and search engines have strengths and weaknesses and often you will need to use more than one to find adequate information on your topic. Our Guide to Databases and the Internet page lists databases and search engines. Each has a brief description that can help you determine which one fits your needs. Most have help pages that usually have a more lengthy description of the database.
Resources:
- Guide to Databases
- Guide to the Internet
Additional Resources
- Choose the Best Search for Your Information Need
- Internet Research Guide
- Internet Research from Wikipedia
- Legal Research Using the Internet
- Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial
- Getting an A on an English Paper
- Research and the Internet
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