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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Greenfile This link opens in a new windowScholarly, government and general-interest titles includes content on the environmental effects of individuals, corporations and local/national governments, and what can be done at each level to minimize these effects.
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Sage Journals This link opens in a new window
Contains more than 1,000 journals in Business, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science, Technology and Medicine.
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SpringerLink This link opens in a new windowThe Library subscribes to a current collection of Springer e-journals. We also own the Springer journal archive, Springer e-books current + archive (English), and Palgrave e-books current + archive. For e-books, you may purchase your own softcover version for $39.99 via the 'MyCopy' link on the book landing page.
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Web of Science This link opens in a new windowCitation search platform for Web of Science (Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index). Coverage: 1900-present (Sciences and Social Sciences), 1975-present (Arts & Humanities).
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ScienceDirect Freedom Collection This link opens in a new window
Collection of over 3,500 journals, mostly in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and social sciences.
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Science.gov This link opens in a new windowScience.gov is an official website of the U.S. government providing ready access to federally funded scientific research results from across government agencies. Research results include scientific and technical reports, peer-reviewed scholarly publications, digital data, software, conference presentations and proceedings, and other scientific and technical information that federal agencies publish resulting from their research investments.
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Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
This multi-disciplinary database provides active full text for more than 3,100 journals, including active full text for nearly 2,750 peer-reviewed journals.
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Nature This link opens in a new windowFull-text access to this premiere research journal from 1869 to present.
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Science This link opens in a new windowFull-text edition of this premier research journal. 1997 - present. Full-text articles from 1880-1996 are available in JSTOR. This site also includes access to the online journals Science Translational Medicine, Science Signaling, Science Immunology, Science Robotics and the open access journal Science Advances.
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Environmental Science DatabasesBrowse additional recommended databases for environmental science.
U.S. Organizations
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United States Environmental Protection AgencyOfficial website of the EPA.
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Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI) This link opens in a new windowEDGI documents, contextualizes, and analyzes current changes to environmental data and governance practices through multidisciplinary and cross-professional collaborative work. They have a searchable public repository of EPA disclosures.
International Organizations
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Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nations)"The Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) acts as the Secretariat for the SDGs, providing substantive support and capacity-building for the goals and their related thematic issues."
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UNESCO This link opens in a new windowUNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, publishes numerous reports, newsletters and other documents on education, natural and social sciences, culture, communication and information. For data, see UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Discover More
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Worldwide NGO DirectoryThe Worldwide NGO Directory, provided by the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO), is a leading source of information on and resource for connecting with NGOs globally. It includes over 54,000 organizations in all fields of activity in more than 190 countries.
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Open Think Tank DirectoryThe Open Think Tank directory pulls together key public information from roughly 4,000 policy organizations worldwide, so you can find think tanks focusing on your areas of interest.
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ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new window
ABI/INFORM Collection includes full-text journals and titles from the business press as well as key trade publications, dissertations, conference proceedings, and market reports.
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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.
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Science Reference Source This link opens in a new windowScience Reference Center contains the full text for nearly 640 science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, etc. Topics covered include: biology, chemistry, earth & space science, environmental science, health & medicine, history of science, life science, physics, science & society, science as inquiry, scientists, technology and wildlife.
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Scientific American (current + archive) This link opens in a new windowComplete archive. Articles and features include all text and graphics in high-quality HTML or PDF files. Covers 1845-present.
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National Geographic Virtual Library This link opens in a new window
Current issues and archive of this well known popular magazine. Coverage: 1888-2020.
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Newspaper DatabasesBrowse additional newspaper and magazine databases available to you via the library.
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CQ Researcher plus Archive This link opens in a new windowDetailed reports on important public policy and social issues, for example women's health, education, public financing, etc.
- Environmental Science
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Climate Change
by Amy Harrell Last Updated Aug 6, 2025 33 views this year
- FYSM-144 Defending the Land and Water (Hussain)
- AMST/HIST-220 Possible Earths (Wickman)
Get Help with Your Research - Susan
Meet Your Librarian!
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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.
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Research Handout - Getting StartedA worksheet guiding you through the topic development process of your research and getting you started searching for sources through library databases using keywords.
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Source Evaluation WorksheetThis worksheet guides you through some of the considerations to take into account when evaluating sources. It includes red flags to pay attention to within a source (vertical reading), as well as strategies for looking at other sources (lateral reading) to determine reliability.