Searching for Sources
Searching for sources is not a straightforward process and may require you to go back and try something different to get the results you're looking for. That said, there are some strategies that can help you find what you want faster.
Types of Sources
One way to help you speed up the research process is to identify the different types of sources that will be most helpful in answering your research questions. The following subpages provide examples for when different types of sources may be appropriate for your research. It is important to note that you will never just use one type of source for your research. You will always use a variety of sources depending on the specific question you are asking and where you are at in the research process.
You will also want to consider where the best place is to search for the sources you've identified as needing for your research. Most times library databases will be most appropriate to find academic sources for your research. Sometimes, though, it will be helpful or even necessary to search the internet. Check out the "Websites" page for possible scenarios when it might be appropriate to search and use internet sources.
Identifying Keywords
Remember! Library databases are not Google. You can't just put your entire question into the search box and get results. 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.
Ex.) To what extent has social media impacted the frequency and success rate of contemporary revolutionary movements and been used as a tool to both mobilize supporters for regime change and obstruct such movements?
2. Think of synonyms or related terms to come up with additional keywords you could use.
Ex.)
| Keyword 1 | Keyword 2 | Keyword 3 |
|---|---|---|
| social media | revolutionary movements | success rate |
| revolutions | effectiveness | |
| social networks | social movements | achievement |
| online platforms | regime change | outcome |
| online forums | uprisings | result |
| digital communications | rebellion | performance |
Hint! Use a thesaurus, the internet, and subject headings to help you come up with additional keywords.
Search Strategies
In addition to coming up with different keywords to try, using the following search strategies can help you construct more targeted searches and narrow your results to the most relevant sources faster.
Search Strings
Put the keywords and phrases you came up with together to form a "search string."
Ex.) "social media" AND revolutions
or... "social media" AND (revolutions OR uprisings)
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.) "social media"
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.