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Module1: Finding your way
Module2: Books and more
Module 3: E-Books
Module4: Article Databases
Module 5: Web Savvy
Module 6: Citing Sources
Northwest Library
EPCC
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Databases
How to search
a database and find articles
The most efficient way to find
articles on a topic is to use electronic databases. Choosing which database
to use is your first step. See Online
Databases for a listing of databases. You then take the following steps:
- Select a database and search
by topic.
- Collect the citations that
are relevant into one file.
- Check the citation to see if
it is a full text or a summary/abstract.
- Print/save or e-mail the citations.
Formulate your search strategy
by selecting search terms carefully. The first thing you want
to do is to pick some appropriate words, which you will use to search for
articles on your topic. For example, if you're looking for information on
"individualism", consider searching with the words "characteristic" and "personal"
too. By using relevant terms or synonyms you'll find more articles.
Often, your topic will contain several different concepts and you will need
to combine search words to find the best information. Instead of just
information on individualism, you may be looking for information on how an
individual behaves in society. A example of a search plan to find that information
might be: "individual AND society".
The word AND insures that your search will find for those articles that are
about BOTH individual and society.
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