Search Tips
Good searching can shorten your research time significantly. Here are some tips from the pros:
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Use quotation marks around a phrase to inform the search engine to look for exactly the phrase you enter- for example "science of literacy" or "financial literacy".
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When searching for a keyword with multiple variations (ex. "education", "educators") use the root form of the word and add an asterisk (*). This means using edu* will retrieve items that have all variations-- "educate", "educates", "education", "educator", "educating", etc.
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Start simple! Begin with 1-2 targeted key words and then make adjustments (more terms, less terms, different terms) depending on your search results. Pay attention to keywords, phrases that are used in highly relevant resources.
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Use the built-in database filters to focus your results- most interfaces let you limit by publication date, subject, format and more
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Finally, ZSR Librarians are here to help you find the best sources for your research assignment!
Getting Started with Background Sources
Before getting started with research, it is a good idea to start with some background and context to the issues you are investigating. The sources below will help you get to that information quickly AND they can help you focus your research topic!
- Gale eBooks This link opens in a new windowSearch across hundreds of subject encyclopedias and other reference works. A great place to find background information on almost any research topic. Includes a topic finder for help with narrowing or broadening your research topic. Coverage: varies
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new windowSearch across hundreds of subject encyclopedias and other reference works. A great place to find background information on almost any research topic. Includes subject trees, pro/con resources, links to scholarly articles and more.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica Online This link opens in a new windowIncludes articles ranging from concise explanations to comprehensive expositions and from historical treatments of subjects to current-events coverage. Includes Britannica's Book of the Year and Nations of the World. Coverage: 1994-
General Databases
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new windowProvides access to journals covering the social sciences, humanities, education, and more. Good general-purpose database for researching most topics. Coverage: 1985-
- ProQuest Research Library This link opens in a new windowContains articles from magazines, newspapers, and journals. Areas included: business, health, education, psychology, science, sports, and literature. Coverage: 1986-
Subject Databases
- Communication and Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new windowContains scholarly literature on all aspects of communication studies, including discourse, linguistics, media studies, and rhetoric. Coverage: 1915-
- ERIC (via ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowIndexes and abstracts education journals and documents published by the Educational Resource Information Center of the US Department of Education. Coverage: 1967-
- ProQuest Social Science Database This link opens in a new windowContains hundreds of academic journals, providing extensive coverage across a wide range of social science disciplines including anthropology, criminology, economics, education, political science, psychology, social work and sociology. Coverage: 1987-
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new windowProvides abstracts to journal articles, book chapters, books and dissertations in psychology and related disciplines (sociology, linguistics, anthropology, education, medicine, law, physiology, business, psychiatry, nursing, pharmacology). Links to full text in PsycARTICLES and to other resources in ZSR. Coverage: 1806-
- Health Source: Consumer Edition This link opens in a new windowConsumer health database inlcuding indexes and abstracts of general health, nutrition and, professional health care publications. Includes the USP Pharmacopoeia DI: Volume II Advice for the Lay Patient, health research books, essays from Clinical Reference Systems, and health-related pamphlets. Coverage: varies
- Environment Complete This link opens in a new windowProvides coverage in applicable areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, renewable energy sources, natural resources, marine & freshwater science, pollution & waste management, environmental technology, environmental law, urban planning, and more. Coverage: 1901-
- Contemporary Women's Issues (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new windowprovides access to current full text and backfile content covering topics including civil rights, health, education, professional development, and entrepreneurship. Coverage: 1992-
- SPORTDiscus This link opens in a new windowCitations and some abstracts from periodicals, books, conference proceedings, dissertations and theses, research papers, etc. covering the areas of sports, physical fitness, sport science and recreation. Access is limited to four simultaneous users. Coverage: 1830-
Instruction & Outreach Librarian
News Sources
- America's News This link opens in a new windowFeatures national, regional and local news from across the United States from the 1980s to the present. Includes the Winston-Salem Journal. A great resource for getting news from regional and local news sources. Coverage: 1980s-
- ProQuest Current News This link opens in a new windowCurrent US and international news. This simultaneously searches ProQuest databases US Newsstream, International Newsstream, Global Breaking Newswires, Canadian Newsstream, Ethnic Newswatch, and Recent Newspapers.
- Newspaper Source Plus This link opens in a new windowFull text for many major U.S. and international newspapers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, the London Times, and others. Also includes some television and radio news transcripts. Coverage: 1985-
- Ebsco Current News This link opens in a new windowCross searches current national and international news sources, wire services, and regional news sources.
