Start your research
OneSearch is a great place to start with if you aren't sure exactly what you are looking for and want to see what is out there for information!
In OneSearch you can find print and eBooks, journal articles, news, streaming video, images, primary sources and more.
Remember! Library databases do not function the same way as Google or other search engines. If you put an entire question into the search box, you will get results, but often they may not be relevant to your topic. Follow the steps below to break your question into keywords for better searches!
1. Take your topic or research question and break it into keywords or phrases.
Example) How do the distinct challenges and societal perceptions faced by climate refugees in the United States impact immigration policies?
2. Think of synonyms or related terms to come up with additional keywords you could use.
Example)
| Keyword 1: climate refugees | Keyword 2: United States | Keyword 3: immigration policies |
|---|---|---|
| environmental refugees | United States of America | migration policies |
| forced migration | America | emigration |
| environmental migration | U.S. | government policies |
| climate migration | U.S.A. | public policy |
Hint! Use a thesaurus and the Internet to help you come up with additional keywords.
Search Strings
Combine keywords and phrases to form a "search string."
Example) "climate refugees" AND immigration policies AND "United States"
or... ("climate refugees" OR "climate change") AND immigration AND "United States" AND policies
AND tells the database you are looking for ALL of the listed terms and will narrow your results
OR tells the database you want EITHER of the listed terms and will help expand your results if you're not finding what you're looking for
You can also use NOT to tell the database you do NOT want to see sources with the specified term(s).
Quotes
Notice how key phrases are grouped together with quotation marks.
Ex.) "climate refugees" / "United States"
Using quotes tells the database to search for the words together as a phrase instead of searching for each word independently. Note that while this can be a very helpful tool, especially when you are looking for a very specific phrase, sometimes you might want to try searching for the terms without quotes. It's a good idea to try searches using quotes around key phrases and without to see which results in better results.
Filters
Filters are a useful tool in narrowing your search results to the specific type of source you are looking for. The most common filters you will likely use are:
- Publication Date - typically you will look for sources published within the past 5-10 years, but depending on your research question or topic that range could change.
- Material Type - this filter is helpful when you are looking specifically for books, articles, or another type of resource. Be sure to consider which resource type will best fit your needs before applying this filter.
- Peer Reviewed - if you are looking for academic articles, you will most likely want to use the "Peer Reviewed" filter as these articles are often considered the "gold standard" of scholarly articles.
Although these are the most common types of filters people use when searching for resources, do not limit yourself to these and feel free to explore and use other available filters as you feel are useful and appropriate for your research.
Expand your research
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JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Archive of past issues of scholarly journals from all areas of study. Includes full runs of covered journals, excluding content from the past 2-5 years. Also includes eBooks and book chapters.
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MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new windowIndex for the study of language, literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, folklore, and film, covering scholarly publications from the early 20th century to the present. International in scope, it includes citations to journal articles, books, articles in books, series, translations, scholarly editions, websites, and dissertations, with links to full text in JSTOR, Project MUSE, and other resources.
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Taylor & Francis Social Science & Humanities Journals This link opens in a new window
Over 1,400 online journals from ca. 1997 - present.
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Project MUSE (Journals & E-Books) This link opens in a new window
Full text of all journals of the John Hopkins University Press as well as some other selected university publishers. An important academic resource for the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Coverage generally from 1990s forward. Trinity also has full-text access to select eBooks from Project MUSE.
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All Language and Culture Studies DatabasesFull list of Language and Culture Studies databases, including databases focused on specific languages and geographic regions
This is a sampling of current and historical newspaper access available through Trinity's databases. More are available on the full list of LACS databases and the full list of newspaper databases.
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Access World News Research Collection (Newsbank) This link opens in a new windowA full-text news resource consisting of local, regional, national and international sources. Updated daily, it offers primary source information on today’s issues and events from newspapers, newswires, transcripts, video clips, web only, and blogs.
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Nexis UNI This link opens in a new window
Nexis Uni™ features news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis®, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790. Personalization features include Alerts and saved searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and annotated documents.
Region-specific newspaper databases:
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African Newspapers, Series 1 & 2 (Newsbank World Newspapers Archive) This link opens in a new windowThis collection provides access to more than 100 African newspapers published in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Featuring titles from Algeria to Angola, Zambia to Zimbabwe, this resource chronicles the evolution of Africa through eyewitness reporting, editorials, legislative information, letters, poetry, advertisements, obituaries and other items.
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Late Qing & Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers (East View Global Press Archive) This link opens in a new window
Open access collection of Chinese newspapers from the first half of the 20th century. The press of more than twenty cities is represented, spanning the Chinese mainland and the entire half century. The collection provides perspective on Chinese life, culture, and politics throughout the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the years of provisional government and civil war, and the birth of the People’s Republic. Open Access to this collection is made possible through the generous support of the Center for Research Libraries and its member institutions.
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Literaturnaia Gazeta Digital Archive (1929-2024) This link opens in a new window
Established on April 22, 1929 with the support of the “father of Soviet literature,” writer Maxim Gorky, Literaturnaia gazeta (Литературная газета, Literary Newspaper) is a landmark publication in Russia’s cultural heritage. With its focus on literary and intellectual life, Literaturnaia gazeta allowed Soviet Russia’s preeminent authors, poets, and cultural figures a podium for commentary, affording perhaps fewer restrictions than might be possible in other publications.
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Middle Eastern & North African Newspapers (East View Global Press Archive) This link opens in a new window
Content in the Middle Eastern & North African Newspapers collection is predominantly in Arabic, but also includes key titles in English and French. The collection comprises out-of-copyright, orphaned content, and includes titles such as Al-Iqbal (Lebanon), Al Akhaa al Watani (Iraq), Tangier Gazette (Morocco) and La Vérité (Algeria). Open Access to this collection is made possible through the generous support of the Center for Research Libraries and its member institutions.
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Docuseek2 Complete Collection (Second Edition) This link opens in a new windowThe Docuseek2 Complete Collection™: Second Edition will contain 1800 exclusive documentaries, upon completion in 2020. This collection of issues-based documentary films comes from leading producers and distributors, including Bullfrog Films, Icarus Films, the National Film Board of Canada, MediaStorm, Terra Nova Films, KimStim, and Scorpion TV, and other independent filmmakers from around the world. This collection focuses on environmental studies and sciences, sociology, anthropology, global studies, area studies, women’s studies, history, political science, criminal justice, health, psychology, the arts, and more.
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Human Relations Area Files: World Cultures This link opens in a new windoweHRAF World Cultures is a cross-cultural and ethnographic database that contains descriptive information on all aspects of cultural and social life. The annually-growing eHRAF database is organized by cultures and ethnic groups, and every document is subject-indexed at the paragraph level, facilitating precise retrieval within documents.
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ARTFL Project This link opens in a new windowA collection of more than 2,000 French full-text works, including all forms of literature, journalism, essays, and technical writing. Covers 13th-20th centuries, with greater coverage for 18th-20th centuries.
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Caribbean Studies in Video: The Banyan Archive This link opens in a new windowFeaturing a mixture of history, entertainment, and social commentary, Banyan Film library covers documentary, drama, music, dance, and much more, spanning the past 40 years. This collection features more than 1,100 hours of music, dance, interviews, cultural programming, and more that has been housed in the Banyan Archives in Trinidad & Tobago for over forty years.
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Latinx Thought & Culture: The NPR Archive, 1979-1990 This link opens in a new windowShowcases two radio programs: the weekly Spanish-language Enfoque Nacional (1979-1988) and the Daily English-language Latin File (1988-1990), available for the first time in a searchable database as digitized audio with transcripts. They focus on Latinx issues related to politics, sociology, human rights, the arts and more with interviews of key figures and news reporting by a new generation of Latino/a journalists at the time.
Many national libraries provide free access to primary sources online. Examples of those and other free primary source archives:
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Asia Studies Full Text OnlineAn online searchable index of thousands of reports and primary materials covering 55 countries. Some access requires fees.
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Biblioteca Digital HispánicaThis virtual library of the Biblioteca Nacional de España provides digital access to thousands of books printed before the 20th century, manuscripts, prints, drawings, pamphlets, posters, photographs, maps, and other materials.
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Biblioteca de Catalunya Digitized CollectionsSeveral accessible online collections from the National Library of Catalonia, including texts, images, and music.
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Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (DDB)Unrestricted access to Germany’s cultural and scientific heritage. Containts millions of books, archived items, images, sculptures, pieces of music and other sound documents, as well as films and scores, from all over Germany. As a central, national portal, the DDB is aiming to bring together and network digital content from all of Germany’s cultural and scientific institutions.
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World Digital LibraryA collection of primary materials from around the globe hosted by the Library of Congress.
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Internet ArchiveIn addition to archiving websites, the Internet Archive also boasts a huge collection of freely accessible texts, images, audio files, and films. The "Feature Films" collection is particularly fantastic if you're looking for old movies that are out of copyright.
Get Help with Your Research - Joelle
Meet Your Librarian!
Joelle Thomas
Systems, User Experience, & Discovery Librarian
Email: joelle.thomas@trincoll.edu
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Schedule an appointment with a Student Technology Assistant (STA)
- STAs will assist you with a wide range of project support.
- STAs help with technologies like: 3-D printing, digital video and audio production, Power Point, Keynote, poster designs, Oculus Rift VR, image editing using Photoshop and more.
- Located on Level 1 of the Library in the Center for Digital Scholarship.
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Trinity College's Peer Tutoring Cooperative
- Connect to a range of peer tutoring opportunities across campus.
- Covers different disciplines and research and academic support and assistance.
- The Peer Tutoring Cooperative includes: The Writing Center, Aetna Quantitative Center, Blume Language Culture & Learning Center, Peer Research Assistants in the Library, Academic Advising and Trinity's Subject-Based Tutoring Center.