The four basic research steps are:

1)   Choose and develop your topic (Brainstorm search terms; find broader and narrower terms)
2)   Find background information (Use reference books for overview; circulating books for depth)
3)   Find current, specific information (Search for magazine & newspaper articles, then credible Web sites)
4)   Put it all together!  (Visit ACC’s Center for Reading & Writing for help organizing your paper & citations)

Four Strategies for Successful Electronic Searching:

1) Use the right sized words:

            In a small database, use broad ideas. In a big database, use specific ideas.

To find:	Search this database:	And use:
Books	online catalog  (a small database)  Example: ACC Library's Catalog lists 60,000 books	big ideas: Smoking
Magazine & journal Articles	article database (a large database)  Example:Academic Search Premier lists millions of articles	specific ideas:      Nicotine
Web sites	search engine (very large database) Example: Google searches billions ofWeb sites)	very specific ideas:   Nicotine and heallth and women and site:gov

2) Keywords vs. subject headings:

	Keywords:	- Words you think might work - try them!
		- Software searches anywhere in the database record
	Subject headings:	- Words you know will work (database’s terms for an idea)
		- Software only searches “Subject“ field of database record
	Best strategy to try:	1) Use keywords you think may work
		2) Find the best citations in your results
		3) Click on their subject headings
		4) Your new results are much better!

3) Boolean logic:

- This technique uses the word “and” to overlap two or more ideas.  It's named after English mathematician George Boole (1815-1864).     

	nicotine and women

 

 

1) 

4) Truncation (wildcard endings):

– This technique replaces a word’s ending with a wildcard symbol to search for all possible endings.
–    An asterisk (*) is the most common symbol. On keyboard: use * in number keypad,or Shift and */8 key.
– addict*  retrieves: addict, addiction, addicted, etc.
– You may combine Boolean logic and truncation: nicotine and addict* 

Save time, energy and get better results: Consult a librarian at any point!

Also see our interactive Research Steps online tutorials, now with narration.

Stop by the Adirondack Community College Library’s reference desk,
or call 743-2200 ext. 2462

Updated June 2008/JM