4.1.1: Database searching
- Page ID
- 261517
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Here are some basic instructions for researching information using library databases:
Plan ahead: The best way to start any project is to determine what you will need to do, and what your final product will be.
- Read your assignment carefully, well ahead of the due date
- Ask questions if something isn't clear
- Make sure you have enough time to complete your project before the due date, including proofreading and editing
Select a topic: To get started with your research, take some time to think carefully about what you want to investigate. Within the context of your assignment, select a topic that interests you personally, that you would like to learn more about. Also think about why the topic interests you. At this point in the process your topic should be fairly broad.
Ask a question: Research papers involve critical analysis of a complex issue, rather than simply reporting information on a topic. Your next step in the process will be to form a clear, focused, researchable question, which will determine how you do your research. One way to begin is to brainstorm or make a concept map or mind map about your topic: consider the context and different aspects, facets, or approaches to the topic, and write or draw out your thoughts, connecting your ideas, something like this:
- Use these prompts to streamline and organize your thoughts and begin to think about a research question:
- Is there a cause and effect related to your topic that you could explore? For example, how does X affect Y?
- What do you already know about your topic? Does this relate to your interest in the topic?
- What information do you need to know, to examine all aspects of the topic?
- Can you narrow your topic to focus your research?
Once you've answered these questions you can form a specific question to guide your research, using the 5 Ws (who?, what?, when?, where?, why?) or how. Check to make sure your question is open-ended, and can’t be answered simply with a yes or no. (You may want to compose a few questions and pick your favorite). For example:
How do college students evaluate and select the resources they use for research papers?
What effect does bias in news sources have on how people vote in local elections?
Note: Your research question is not the same as your thesis. For now you are focusing on finding information so that you can compose a thesis statement once you have the information you are looking for.
Before moving directly to your database search, examine your question. Is it:
- open-ended? Does it allow for multiple points of view on your topic?
- focused? Does it make the size of your topic more manageable?
- specific? What exactly are you investigating?
- answerable? Will you be reasonably able to find information to answer your question?
Design a search: Select the main ideas/words from your question and decide where you will use them to look for resources. Keep in mind that you can use synonyms and related terms as well. For example:
- Question: What effect does bias in news sources have on how people vote in local elections?
- Keywords: effect, bias, “news sources,” vote, “local elections” (you can put quotation marks (“”) around more than one word to create compound search terms
- Keyword synonyms: impact, consequences, prejudice, newspapers, media outlets, online news content, (specific sites or apps: CNN, TikTok, etc.), voting, electing, (specific location: state or city), etc.
Do a search: Use your search terms to find results.
- Search more than one database. Some have overlapping content, but others differ.
- Using the Advanced Search function and at least 2 keywords will help you to search databases more efficiently and effectively because you will be focusing your query to find more specific content than you would otherwise.
- Use Boolean operators to link keywords in your search. Boolean operators are “a method of searching created by mathematician George Boole that uses the terms AND, OR, and NOT to broaden or narrow a search. … For instance, AND allows two different but related terms to be searched, which narrows down your search to be more specific. An example would be [bias AND news sources], which would search all of the literature first on [bias], but then limit to only the articles that were written about [bias in news sources]. The operator OR allows you to search two like terms and have the results of both searches appear on the same page. An example of using OR would be to search for [news sources OR media outlets], which would return results that used either of the two forms of the term. NOT excludes certain terms from being included in a search. In the same vein as the other example searches, you may be interested in finding out only about [bias in media outlets], but not [bias in social media] (Hisle, D. & Webb, K., 53).”
You can add search terms beyond what the database defaults to; add a search box with another Boolean operator and your additional term:
Modify your search: Filter your results to be more or less specific and/or adjust search terms. Keep in mind that research is an exploration of a topic. As you are doing your research, you may discover information that examines a more interesting (or easier to research) question, and decide to modify your own question.
- Use database filters to find full text, to read the entire article; apply other filters as well, such as for resource types, publication dates, or geography or location. Depending on your topic, it’s usually best to limit your results by dates, focusing on sources from the last 5 years or so. This will ensure that you are getting the most recent information on a particular topic. Of course, if you’re searching a historical topic you may not want to apply this limit.
- Adjust your filters and/or keywords to find the best results. Try different terms or combinations of terms. Make use of search terms that are suggested in the database since they match the basic descriptive subject terms of the database, kind of like the signs in a grocery store. You can also add these subject terms to your list of keywords to search in any database.
- While you are searching for sources, consider where the information is coming from and what biases might be present.
Find key resources: Review your search results to find the best resources for your purposes.
- After gathering information from multiple sources and viewpoints, especially for controversial topics, compare your sources.
- Do sources agree? If not, you will want to dig deeper to investigate.
- Take a closer look at the sources in your results list, starting with the titles and the abstracts.
If you find a source that looks promising and you want to know more about it:
- (Note: If you have a choice between HTML and PDF full-text, always select the PDF).
- Read the conclusion as well as the abstract.
- If the source still looks useful, skim it and look for the most relevant sections for your purposes; read those more closely, and add the source to a citation matrix (see below).
- Use the “Cite” and “Permalink” buttons in the database toolbox (see below).
- At this point it is a good idea to print out a paper copy of an electronic source and annotate it by hand (If you are using a library book, do not write in the book! Take clear notes in a notebook or on your device, or annotate a copy of relevant pages.)
- Be prepared to cross-reference (look for similar information in other sources) or conduct further research.
- If you decide to quote information from a source that comes from another resource, locate the original source to use for your citation.
Present your work: Share what you’ve learned.
- Use your sources to support your argument and be sure to cite them! When you’re researching, keep a record of all of the sources you think you might use for your project. This can be in a Word or Google doc, pages in a notebook, in a citation matrix like the one below, or whatever works best for you. Setting this up at the beginning of your research will help you out in the long run, especially if you need to write an annotated bibliography.
|
Citation |
Link |
Purpose |
Summary or Annotation |
Possible quotes |
|
Example: Porfirio, L., Chavarín, A., Linzy, M., Lopez, H., & Montiel, A. (2023). Students Take the Lead: Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Adult Education through Ambassador Training. COABE Journal: The Resource for Adult Education, 12(1), 52–60. |
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=a9h&AN=163643662&site=ehost-live&custid=s9211204 (requires credentials for access) |
Use as an example of adult education students advocating for diversity and inclusion in their school environment. |
(from article abstract) “Ambassador training … creates networks of diverse learners who use their voices, stories, and skills for advocacy and social change. … The authors examined ambassador training through … “lens of their own experiences and provided the resulting recommendations to the field….” |
“Students need to see themselves in our curriculum, materials, literature, content, and as the ultimate experts on adult education in advocacy and leadership roles” (55-56). |
We’ll discuss citations, intellectual property, and annotated bibliographies in more depth in the following modules.
Do it all over again! Start a new or related search using the same strategy. You may need to go through this multiple times for different facets of a single research project.