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*Login, Tips, Policies: Database Search

ProQuest

Look at all search options!

  • My default is to select Full text
  • If you're searching a phrase, use quotations - I searched equine colic without (4,000+ results) and with (381 results)
  • Look at the bottom of the search screen for suggested searches to try
  • When you find a relevant article, click on the title to view

  • From here, you can view HTML full text or print/download PDF, save to Google Drive (all options), and generate a citation
  • Anything in blue text is a hyperlink

EBSCO

Look at all search options!

  • I usually Select all (at least at first)

  • My default is to select Full text, Find all my search terms, and Apply related words (at least at first)
  • If you're searching a phrase, use quotations - I searched equine colic without (1,195 results) and with (24 results)
  • Look at the Subjects listed under the article description - use these for your next search
  • When you find a relevant article, click on the title to view

  • From here, you can view or print/download PDF, save to Google Drive, and generate a citation
  • Anything in blue text is a hyperlink

NewsBank

Look at all search options!

  • Quick Links is convenient when searching regional newspapers

  • If you're searching a phrase, use quotations - I searched equine colic without (2,779 results) and with (452 results)
  • When you find a relevant article, click on the title to view
  • From here, you can view, print/download PDF, or save to Google Drive

Search Tips

Boolean Operators

Broaden or narrow your results
  • Use AND to retrieve results that contain both search terms: library AND college
  • Use OR to retrieve results that contain any or all of your search terms: college OR university
  • Using NOT to exclude irrelevant results: java NOT coffee

Truncation

Use an asterisk (*) to replace part of a word
  • librar* = library, libraries, librarian
  • *plane = airplane, aeroplane, warplane
Use a question mark (?) to substitute one letter within a word
  • analy?e = analyse, analyze
  • wom?n = woman, women

Quotation Marks

Retrieve more specific results
  • Consider searching for a specific phrase: "global warming"
  • Consider searching for a specific spelling of a word: "artefact" instead of "artifact"

Synonyms

Use synonyms to explore results
  • teenager: tween, adolescent, youth, juvenile
  • benefit: advantage, influence, support, asset

Adapted from Charles Stuart University Library

Internet Domains

.com Commercial site. The information provided by commercial interests is generally going to shed a positive light on the product it promotes. While this information might not necessarily be false, you might be getting only part of the picture. Remember, there's a monetary incentive behind every commercial site in providing you with information, whether it is for good public relations or to sell you a product outright.

.edu Educational institution. Sites using this domain name are schools ranging from kindergarten to higher education. If you take a look at your school's URL you'll notice that it ends with the domain .edu. Information from sites within this domain must be examined very carefully. If it is from a department or research center at an educational institution, it can generally be taken as credible. However, students' personal Web sites are not usually monitored by the school even though they are on the school's server and use the .edu domain.

.gov Government. If you come across a site with this domain, then you're viewing a federal government site. All branches of the United States federal government use this domain. Information such as Census statistics, Congressional hearings, and Supreme Court rulings would be included in sites with this domain. The information is considered to be from a credible source.

.org Traditionally a non-profit organization. Organizations such as the American Red Cross or PBS (Public Broadcasting System) use this domain suffix. Generally, the information in these types of sites is credible and unbiased, but there are examples of organizations that strongly advocate specific points of view over others, such as the National Right to Life Committee and Planned Parenthood. You want to give this domain scrutiny. Some commercial interests might be the ultimate sponsors of a site with this suffix.

.mil Military. This domain suffix is used by the various branches of the Armed Forces of the United States.

.net Network. You might find any kind of site under this domain suffix. It acts as a catch-all for sites that don't fit into any of the preceding domain suffixes. Information from these sites should be given careful scrutiny.

Content from University of South Carolina Upstate Library Evaluating Information, URL & What it can tell you, Domain Suffix

Search Engines

WebCrawler A meta-search tool, combining results from different search engines like Google, Yahoo, Ask, Live Search, and others.

Google Scholar Specialized search tool that focuses primarily on information from scholarly and peer-reviewed sources.

​WolframAlpha A computational search engine that generates answers to factual queries using data sets.

Openverse Searches openly licensed images from around the internet.

RefSeek A web search engine for students and researchers that aims to make academic information easily accessible to everyone.

General search engines include Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google.

Advanced search: Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo