Tip: Know the words that scholars use
Wrong search words bring...
1. Too much information
2. Little or no information
3. Irrelevant information
1. What is a subject term?
Official word or phrase
used by scholars in their
field
2. Where can I find them?
Thesauri
Databases
Books on a subject
Listen to the
Discussion Group
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Techniques
to Find Scholarly Discussions about Your Topic
General Tips 1. Start out with general resources first – encyclopedias & textbooks 2. Ask teachers and subject specialists for recommended authors, publishers, and journals. Ways to do that: a. Search footnotes & bibliographies from relevant books & articles b. Look for authors who are often quoted or referred to c. Read other books & articles by the same author d. Choose discipline-specific databases 3. Choose discipline-specific databases.
Searching Tips 1. Use good search terms Wrong search words bring... a. Too much information b. Little or no information c. Irrelevant information 2. Use words and phases that scholars use Subject terms - helps you find what scholars say - quickly! a. What is a subject term? Official word or phrase used by scholars in their field b.Where can I find them? Thesauri 3. Use limiters - peer-reviewed, year, format. 4. Use AND, OR, or Not - Boolean search terms Examples “spiritual warfare” AND prayer 5. Use asterisk - truncation Examples wom*n - brings up woman or women
If your 1st search strategy doesn't work,
try another one!
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Tools to Find Scholarly Discussions about Your Topic
Encyclopedias
Examples Why start with an encyclopedia?
Examples Three ways to find subject encyclopedias from CU library: 1. Look in the Reference section of the library (library map) 2. Look in CU library OneSearch
2 . Research Guides
Databases
Example: index at the back of a book . 1. Some are like an index at the back of a book. Example: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection indexes 550 psychology journals 2. Some are like an index at the back of a 3 volume book set Example: ATLA Religion Database indexes over 1,900 religion & theology journals 3. Some are like an index at the back of a 20 volume book set Example: Academic Search Complete indexes over 9,300 journals from many disciplines
Examples How to find subject databases from CU library:
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