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Next, find information about your topic. What types of sources will be good for your topic, books, audio, journals, magazines, websites? What search tools can help you locate them, the library library catalog, journal databases, web search engines? Depending on what you find, you might need to revise your topic or search strategy. If you are having trouble finding information on your topic, always feel free to ask a librarian.
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Capitalize your connectors AND/OR
1. Phrase Search-keep a phrase together so it will not get separated and lose intended meaning
Example
"yellowstone park"
"sandy hook"
2. Truncations - to search words of various endings
Example
comput* -computer, computers, computerize computerized, computerinzing, computational, computation
wom?n - woman or women
girl*-girl, girls, girlish
3. Boolean Operators - use AND/ OR/ NOT to connect your keywords - Boolean Machine.
Example- AND
california AND parks
"yellowstone park" AND "wild life"
Example- OR
women OR girl* OR female*
research OR survey or case stud*
Example- NOT (AND NOT)
yellowstone NOT park
clinton AND NOT hillary
4. Use parenthesis and quotation marks for logical execution of search terms
"sex* harrassment" AND ("work place" OR office OR corporations)
Find articles and books on the topic "The impact of killing on returning soldiers in Iraq War" via One Search.
Keyword strategies: (killing OR violen*) AND soldier* AND "iraq war"
* To search for primary sources, one can add search terms such as: interview* OR witness* OR personal narrative* OR letter*
1. Use Advanced Search Interface; enter keywords for one concept in each line. Connect synonyms with OR (capitalize OR).
2. Use capitalized OR & AND to connect your keywords
3. Limit keywords in Subject or Abstract field of the record.
4. Limit to "Online Access & In Library" will get only the full-text articles, library's books and e-books.
5. Limit by "Publication Date"
Demonstration: Access and use Find Journals link to locate full-text articles:
Tutorial on How to Search Online Catalog
Sample book search
1. At the Advanced Search box, enter your keyword, each concept in a line, Limit by Subject
2. Under Location > Moore Stacks (shelves)
3. Use the book call number to find books on the shelves.
4. For primary sources, use the keyword word "source*" to search.
Search example: Women's experience in war on terror.
Keywords: women AND war AND terror
1. Use Advanced Search, limit by Subject
2. Note the Format includes printed and e-books; Access e-books on line. The book Call Number helps you find the book on the shelf (stack).
Check the Rider Research Guide
History- Primary Sources - Tip: use keywords:interview, witness, personal narrative or letter to search for primary sources.
Nexis Uni is a comprehensive database including news, business, and legal research.
Sample Search for News on a topic: Returning soldiers from Iraq War and their families
Guided Search
1. Select News, Enter the search box: returning soldier* AND Iraq War AND famil*, Choose the date range from 1 January 2003 till current date and click "Search"
2. Limit search results by Publication Type, Narrative News, and Source. Your keywords are highlighted in yellow.
Sample Topics:
1. What's the role of women and families upon a soldier coming home from Iraq war?
(women OR wives OR mother OR famil*) AND soldier* AND iraq war
2. What's the role of religion upon a soldier coming home from Iraq war?
(religio* OR faith OR god) AND soldier* AND Iraq war
3. What is the impact of killing upon a soldier returning home from Iraq war?
(killing* OR violen*) AND soldier* AND "Iraq war"
4. The importance of brotherhood amongst soldiers.
(brotherhood* OR friendship) AND soldier*
