WRIT 3036 – LINSEY FORDRESEARCH & INSTRUCTION LIBRARIAN

Writing for the Social Sciences

Objectives:• Learn about the resources available• Create advanced searches in

databases• Be able to navigate library

databases to find peer-reviewed articles• Become familiar with library guide

for this course• Discuss citations in APA format

What can you find in a library?

?

?

?

? ?

?

??

?

Library Resources

Books/ebooksOnline catalog

Journal articlesDatabases

Books

Journal Articles

Why use library databases when you can find information about everything online?

tumblr

.gov Wikipedia

Subscription databases

Password-protected websites

restricted access

$$$

free access

Illegal content

Classified documents

Surface Web

Deep Web

Amazon

cnn

Google

ads.gov

.edu

Creating Effective Searches

State your topic

Identify the most

important keywords

Think of synonyms or variations of

your keywords

Create a search using

logical operators

Journal Articles

State your topic

Identify the most

important keywordsThink of

synonyms or alternate

words

Create a search

Does having money really make you happy?money happy

income

joyfulfillment

wealth

A. dementia OR Alzheimer’s

B. dementia AND Alzheimer’s

C. dementia NOT Alzheimer’s

WHICH SEARCH WILL FIND THE LARGEST SET OF RESULTS?

security

ORdementia

Alzheimer’s

ANDdementia

Alzheimer’s

NOT security

privacydementia

Alzheimer’s

USING A WILDCARD(*) WILL:

A.Find MORE results

B.Find FEWER results

C.Find synonyms and related terms Example: teen*

WILDCARDS

teens teenagers

teenagedteenage

teenager

teen*

teen*

OR adolescen* OR child*

USING A WILDCARD (*) WILL BROADEN YOUR SEARCH

BUT IT WON'T FIND SYNONYMSadolescents children

Topic: drug abuse in teenagers

A..

B.

C.

drug abuse in teenagers

“drug abuse” or “drug addiction”

“drug abuse” or “drug addiction”

teenagers

teen* or adolscen*

 Try your search in one or more database –

and look for other good keywords and subject terms in the search results.

Find peer-reviewed articles about the exploitation of laborers in the garment industry.

exploit* labor* garment

industry

“sweatshops” “labou

r”

2000987456