The search box on the Libraries home page is a great tool to help you get started finding articles. It searches most of the databases that the library subscribes to, but not all of them. Just click on the articles tab and enter your key terms into the box… This can be a great starting point for many research projects, but for more in-depth research, you may want to use a subject-specific database.

Subject-specific databases are narrowly scoped to a particular field or discipline, meaning they allow researchers to find very specific types of documents or information. For example, there are business databases that have search filters to limit results by type of industry or even by geographic region. Or in an architecture database you can sort by document types like “aerial images” or “site plans.”

To get to these specialized databases, click the databases link beneath the main search box on  the Libraries’ website. This will take you to a new page, allowing you to access individual databases. If you already know what database you’re looking for, you can search for it by name or browse the alphabetical listing. But most likely, you will want to look at the section with the heading “Browse by discipline.” In the left column, you’ll see major discipline categories covering a variety of subjects: like agriculture & life sciences, engineering, or social sciences. They are organized much like the academic colleges and departments at NC State. 

Let’s say I want to find articles on environmental justice, which means the fair treatment of everyone, regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, in regards to environmental safety and protection. In this list of disciplines, I see Agriculture & Life Sciences, which is relevant, but I also see other disciplines that could be useful for this topic, like natural resources or social sciences. For now I’ll go with Natural Resources. The link takes me to a list of subcategories to help narrow my search. Let’s click on Environmental Sciences. This will take me to a list of databases that librarians recommend for Environmental Sciences research.

At the top is a list of “Key Databases”, which are great starting points for most research in this subject. Each database has a description underneath its link to help you decide whether or not to use it. Underneath the “Key Databases” are listings of databases for more niche topics. For instance, Toxline would be a great database for research on chemical pollution. You can click on any of these to read more about the topics that they cover. Once I find a database that  I like, I can click on it and begin searching, discovering information more closely related to my topic. The librarians who specialize in each discipline area are also listed at the bottom of these database pages in case you have questions. 

There are too many different databases to describe them all in detail, but even though every database looks a little different, they often have similar features. Look for tools to filter by date or subject, options for emailing articles and citations to yourself, and links to Help pages. These tools usually appear at the top or sides of the database’s website. 

If you need help finding information or deciding which database might be best for your research, ask a librarian for help!

Boolean operators are the words “AND, OR, and NOT”. These simple words can be used in combination with your keywords to broaden or narrow your search results. Let’s take a look at how they work:

You can use the word AND to combine keywords and make your search more specific. For example, if I search for autism AND therapy, the words “autism” and “therapy” would appear in every search result. 

You can use the word OR to combine synonyms. For example, if I search for “autism spectrum disorder” OR “autism spectrum condition”, then my results would contain either phrase, broadening my search. This is helpful when your topic is closely related to other topics, when you’re not getting a lot of search results, or when there are many different synonyms that authors might use to describe a concept. 

When you write ‘OR’ statements, be sure to enclose them in parentheses. This will make it clear to the database how you want your search terms combined. For example:("autism spectrum condition" OR "autism spectrum disorder") AND therapy  

Occasionally you’ll find that you’re getting a lot of irrelevant results around one particular topic. For example, if you were researching autism but you kept getting results related to misinformation about vaccines as a cause, you could use the boolean operator ‘NOT’ as a quick way to filter out those irrelevant results. In this example, you could try adding a ‘NOT vaccine’ to the end of your search string. We recommend using ‘NOT’ sparingly, as you may accidentally filter out results that match your topic. 

Note that in our examples, the boolean operators are written in all capital letters. Some databases require this and some don’t, so it’s a good practice to write them in all capitals just in case. Most databases also allow you to choose Boolean operators from a dropdown menu. This gives you another way to build a Boolean search Either method is effective, so choose the one that works best for you!

You can use Boolean operators to build complex search strings that return specific, relevant results. Our search string might look like: 

(“Autism Spectrum Disorder” OR “Autism Spectrum Condition”) AND (“cognitive behavioral therapy” OR CBT) NOT vaccine

Remember that searching is an iterative process, so you can adjust this search string as you go. If you find too few results, try adding alternate keywords to the search using OR. If you find too many results, consider eliminating some of your less specific search terms.

Boolean search terms are not the only tools at your disposal!  Check out our Tips & Tricks video series for more help or Ask a Librarian!