DA145 Instructional Session
When using the Barber Library site (and conducting research in general), it's important to have a strategy. Let's start off with a question....
You just received a research assignment.....
You were assigned a research project that requires scholarly sources. What do you do:
- Where do you start searching?
- What type of materials are you finding? How do you determine what you'll use and what you'll ignore?
- How do you determine if a source meets the definition of "scholarly" that your instructor expects? How do you define "scholarly"
Basic Library Search Resources
Let's look at the Barber Library webpage to find our resources:
Some suggestions on where to get started:
- For journal articles: Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, Health Source, and MEDLINE available from the alphabetical list of resources on the Articles & More page
- To get started with reference sources: Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, Health and Medicine, or the Credo Reference Library from the Encyclopedias & More section on the Health Sciences Resource by Subject page
Library Search Strategies
Protip: Think of a library database like Netflix or Hulu (which both happen to also be databases!) You should avoid combining more than four concepts in one search so that you don't get too specific and narrow your results to 0. For example: I want to watch cooking shows? I would only search for the following: cooking
Protip: You should avoid combining more than four concepts in one search so that you don't get too specific and narrow your results to 0. For example: What are the pros and cons of using fluoride? My keywords might include the following: Fluoride, gum, health, remineralize, decay, Dental fluorosis, enamel.
Protip: Avoid using relationship words like benefits, pro, con, best practice, negative, positive, etc.
But how do you combine those concepts in a library database? Use advanced search techniques, of course!
Boolean operators: Limit your results using AND, expand your results using OR, eliminate unnecessary results using NOT
Protip: make sure to use all caps when using Boolean operators.
example: (gum OR remineralize OR decay) AND fluoride NOT nuclear
Phrase Searching: If you want your keywords to appear in a specific order, like a phrase, try using quotation marks ""
example: "tooth enamel"
Title Searches: Too many results? Using the drop-down menu next to the search bar, limit your search keywords to only appearing in article titles.
Protip: Avoid using relationship words like benefits, pro, con, best practice, negative, positive, etc.
But how do you combine those concepts in a library database? Use advanced search techniques, of course!
Boolean operators: Limit your results using AND, expand your results using OR, eliminate unnecessary results using NOT
Protip: make sure to use all caps when using Boolean operators.
example: (gum OR remineralize OR decay) AND fluoride NOT nuclear
Phrase Searching: If you want your keywords to appear in a specific order, like a phrase, try using quotation marks ""
example: "tooth enamel"
Title Searches: Too many results? Using the drop-down menu next to the search bar, limit your search keywords to only appearing in article titles.
Using Library resources you can filter your search even further, evaluate the author and--oh yeah--you can even create a fully-formed citation!
Too much? Ask for help!
I know that there's a lot of information here, and you might still have questions, even after this session. That's what librarians are for! You can always contact me, but there are also several other options for you to contact any Barber Library librarian.
Just look for this icon or go directly to Help page and you'll be connected to someone who can help you come up with keywords, cite your sources, choose databases, and help with your general library needs! |