Good searching can shorten your research time significantly. Here are some tips from the pros:
Use quotation marks around a phrase to inform the search engine to look for exactly the phrase you enter- for example "body image" or "United States".
When searching for a keyword with multiple variations (ex. "child", "children", "childhood", etc.) use the root form of the word and add an asterisk (*). This means using child* will retrieve items that have all variations-- "child", "children", "childhood".
Be specific: A search for child* and media and violence is much better than one for "television violence"
Use the built-in database filters to focus your results. Most interfaces let you limit by publication date, subject, format and more
Finally, ZSR Librarians are very skilled in helping you find the best search for your topic - so get in touch with us when you need assistance!
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!
