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When beginning an assignment in which you must search for information
from various sources, it is often useful to brainstorm a plan for
your searching. These suggestions and guidelines may be used when
preparing to search in library databases and search engines on the
Internet. Topic Write down the topic of your paper or assignment. What is your paper about, what answers are you looking for and what
questions are you asking about your topic? | |
| Example: How should the law protect
human rights? Keywords: rights, human rights, Government, Law | |
| Are there unique words or phrases, distinct names, or acronyms
associated with your topic? Once your begin your search, enclose
these phrases in quotation marks. With abbreviations or acronyms,
try a search by typing the whole words. | |
| Example: "human rights",
"protection of human rights" UN or "United Nations" | |
| For your various keywords and concepts, are there any synonyms
or equivalent terms that you would like to find in your searching?
Are there terms that relate to your topic that might either be more
general (broad term) or more specific (narrow term)? | |
| Example: constitutional rights,
human rights violations, humanitarian law Broad terms: rights, protection of rights Narrow terms: civil rights, political rights |
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| Now make a plan for where you want to search for your information: Do you need books? Search in the Library Catalog. If you need an overview of your topic, search for reference books, such as encyclopedias. If you need more depth on your topic, search for circulating books. Do you need articles? Search in our Article & Research Databases. If you need newspaper articles -- use something like ProQuest Newsstand. If you need scholarly articles, select from the list located on our page entitled Find Scholarly or Peer-Reviewed Articles. The best choices are in Ebscohost and WilsonWeb. Reading the description of a database can also help. To learn more about each library article database, click on the "About" link located below the database names on our Find Articles, Research & More page. |
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For questions or comments, Ask a Librarian Copyright © McLennan Community College 2009 Updated September 9, 2009 | |