Research typically involves using a variety of sources including:
Library resources can be found using the Library Homepage.
Use the big search box on the library homepage to search for books, articles, and videos all at once. Check the peer reviewed box if you need peer-reviewed articles. Check "Search only our catalog" if you want only books and videos.
On the results page, use the boxes on the left side of the screen to limit your results by date, type of source, or more.
Boolean searching is the traditional way to search for information in most online databases and on the Internet. The Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT, are used to create phrases and concepts based on specific rules of search logic.
| Operator | Examples | Results |
| AND |
|
Retrieves records that contain ALL of the search terms. |
| OR |
|
Retrieves records that contain ANY of the search terms, but does not necessarily include all of them. |
| NOT |
|
Excludes records containing the second search term. |
Truncation or wildcard symbols can broaden your search and allow you to look for variations of words. For example, the truncation sport* would bring up variations such as sport, sports, sporting, sporty, etc. Using a wildcard in the search wom?n would bring up the variations woman and women.
Note: The truncation and wildcard symbols used can vary depending on the electronic resource you are searching. For more information, consult the database’s “help” or “search tips” pages.
Use quotations marks to search terms as a phrase ("environmental science," not environmental on one page and science on another) and narrow your results.
When looking at search results, take note of any subjects provided. If you find a resource that is perfect for your topic, it is likely that the subject headings for that resource will lead you to other items that will be good resources to use.
