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Students may find more precise search results by:
SELECTING SEARCH FIELDS
COMBINING SEARCH TERMS
CHOOSING LIMITERS
Selecting Search Fields
Students may search the key terms against any of a number of fields including the
articles' titles, abstracts/summaries, etc. to help customize and define the search
results.
As selected in the example below, the "Default Fields" will scan all author,
title, subject, and abstract fields for the occurrence of the key concept, "Patriot Act."
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Search Technique: Searching the "All Text" or "Subject Terms" Fields
TX "All Text" Field: If additional information is needed after
searching the "Default Fields," students may broaden the search and retrieve more articles
by selecting the "TX" field. This field will scan the entire text of the articles for the
occurrence of your search term. Please note that the search may generate irrelevant
information by retrieving articles that mention but do not focus on the topic.
SU "Subject Terms" Field: The "SU" field searches the subject fields
and retrieves the articles only if your keyword matches a controlled vocabulary of subject
terms assigned to the article. The database thesaurus will assist researchers in identifying
subject terms synonymous to the researcher's keyword. To browse the thesaurus,
(1) Select the "Subject Terms" tab, (2) Enter your keyword in the dialog box, (3) Click "Browse."
- Keyword vs Subject Searching: Keyword searching offers the flexibility of
searching the bibliographic records (title, author, summary, full text, etc.) for the
occurrence of your selected terms or concepts. Subject searching, in contrast,
requires that researchers identify the appropriate subject terms assigned to the articles.
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Combining Search Terms
Researchers may focus the search by combining the key words or concepts using one of the
Boolean operators (and, or, not).
As illustrated below, the Boolean operator "and" is used to combine the terms
"Patriot Act"
and "civil liberties" to retrieve articles that must discuss both concepts in the body of
the text.
Choosing Limiters
Students may select from a number of limiters to help focus the search results.
As selected in the following example, the "Full Text" feature will retrieve only those
articles that are available in full text, offering convenient access to the entire content
of the article.
Researchers may further limit the search to articles published in scholarly journals as selected below.
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RESEARCH TIP: Scholarly Journals vs Popular Magazines
Scholarly journals, also known as peer reviewed, refereed, and academic journals, contain
articles written by experts or researchers in a particular field of study and are generally
published less frequently with limited or no advertising.
In contrast, popular magazines such as Time or Newsweek, are published
frequently (weekly, biweekly, monthly) with articles generally written by a staff writer
or guest contributor.
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SEARCH TECHNIQUE: Additional Limiters featured on the Advanced Search Screen
assist students in locating:
- Cover Stories.
- Articles containing a designated number of pages.
- Articles published in a specific magazine or journal or within a designated date range.
- Articles which include a "works cited" or "reference list."
The reference list credits the information borrowed from other authors and is helpful in locating additional articles, books, and other resources discussing a particular topic.
Select the "References Available" tab to access this feature.
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Patriot Act ANDcivil liberties
Patriot Act NOT civil liberties
Patriot Act OR civil liberties
