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Finding Sources
Finding Sources
CREATING A SEARCH STRATEGY
Your search strategy is your plan for finding sources to use in answering your research question. Think about what kinds of information you will need. Will you need primary sources such as political cartoons, diary entries, or photographs? Will you conduct original data collection such as interviews, surveys, observations, or experiments? Once you know what you need, you can make a list of the possible sources for that information.
Your information may come from the following types of sources:
Academic journal articles
Reference books
Newspaper and magazine articles
Histories, biographies, and other nonfiction books
Literary works including novels, short stories, poems, etc.
Personal interviews
Direct observation, studies, experiments, etc.
Encyclopedia articles (check with your teacher)
And more
Although you may be in the habit of going straight to Google for information, beginning with the library's resources can save you time and effort in the end. Internet search engines often provide thousands of results and figuring out which are relevant and trustworthy can be a much bigger task.
A robust search strategy will include some combination of the following:
Library databases and subject guides. These online resources are designed to help you to quickly locate reliable and relevant information. Results include journal articles, reference e-books, and more. Because databases are designed for researchers, they often feature useful tools like ready-made citations, related search terms, translations, and more.
Library catalog. Search for books, videos, magazines, and other resources available at your library. Because library catalogs search only the bibliographic record of an item, rather than the complete text, keep your search terms relatively general. For example, rather than searching for "the history of juvenile justice during the 1920s" you might look for any book on "juvenile justice" and then check the index or table of contents for your specific topic.
Other libraries. Search the online catalog and make requests from any library in the Boston Public Library system. If you don't have a card, sign up for an e-card, available to anyone living in Massachusetts, online in mere minutes. You can also access many Boston Public Library databases, including JSTOR, from home.
Internet search engines. The internet is a rich source of information, but it is a little like the Wild West. Many sources on the open internet have not been edited or verified. You must be selective about which web pages you use in your research or risk undermining your own credibility and possibly using wrong information.
Although it is tempting to go straight to Google when beginning research, it can take longer in the end because you get so many hits, results are not filtered for quality or relevance, and there are limited researcher tools. Search engines like Google and Bing only search the "visible" web, meaning that they cannot see great content behind paywalls or passwords, like our library database articles.
Advanced search options can help you find what you are looking for more quickly. Search for complete phrases using quotation marks (e.g., "human microbiome" or "Arab Spring"), search specific domains (e.g., site:gov), and more. As you search, visualize the kinds of results that will be most helpful to you, such as government agency and news sites and look for those. Watch this two-minute video from Common Craft to learn more.Digital archives. Online archives and databases are especially useful for finding older primary sources, which become part of the public domain, and government documents. Search them directly, or find them through internet search engines and library subject guides. Here are a few favorites.
Original research. You may conduct original field work such as interviewing an expert, conducting a survey, performing an experiment, etc.
Asking for help. Can't find what you need? Talk to a librarian! In fact, many good researchers speak with a librarian BEFORE they develop their search strategy, saving time and frustration in the long run.
KEYWORD SEARCHES
You will use keywords to search for information whether in databases, online catalogs, internet search engines, and even books (use the index at the back).
Try this brainstorming process to develop a list of potential keywords:
List keywords that are important to each of the concepts in your research question. If you aren't sure what your keywords should be, write out your research question or a few sentences about your topic and circle the important words. For example:
What are the effects of television on teenagers? > television, teenagers
Next brainstorm SYNONYMS and RELATED CONCEPTS:
teenagers > adolescents, young adults, children, students
Brainstorm NARROWER search terms:
television > television commercials, advertising, product placement
Brainstorm BROADER terms:
television > media, entertainment
Combine keywords to get articles that match each of your important concepts. For example:
television AND childhood obesity
Mix and match these terms in your database and catalog searches to see which are most effective.
Click here for a template from CRLS that will help you determine your keywords to search. A completed example template is provided here.
SEARCH TIPS
Advanced search strategies will allow you to achieve more accurate and precise results. Try these:
Use quotation marks to search for phrases. For example:
"muscular dystrophy" or "Of Mice and Men"
Use advanced search options and filters. Make use of advanced search options. These differ among databases and search engines but may include filters for full-text, scholarly articles, or articles with images; reading level; year of publication; etc. Most also allow you to exclude terms that you do NOT wish to see in your results (for example, if you are searching for the fish called a mullet and do NOT want to see results about hairstyles!). Truncation and wildcard characters are two other advanced search options.
Check your spelling. If you don't find anything on your topic, sloppy spelling may be to blame!
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