AMER STD 191: American Studies Thesis Class - Biestman

Search an article database to find citations (title, author, title of journal, date, page numbers) for articles on a particular topic.  The Library gives you access to over 200 article databases covering different disciplines.

1.  Think about which academic disciplines might write about your topic.  Examples:  literature, film, anthropology, history...

2.  Find the appropriate article database by subject (academic discipline or department).  Look for "Recommended" databases.

Library home > Articles > Article Databases by Subject

Sample searches in CSA Illumina Social Science databases:

Library home > Articles > Article Databases by Subject > Ethnic Studies > Sociology Abstracts:  click on the CSA Illumina Social Sciences link to search multiple social science databases

1.  Example of a search using multiple keywords, phrase searching, truncation,etc.

     corporate ethic* (keywords)
     marketing (keywords)
     consumer behavior  (keywords)

keywords = searches most important parts of the record

add a term to narrow your search results

     admission*  (keywords)

* = truncation symbol or wildcard;  child* = child, childs, children, childish, childhood

another example using phrase searching (multiple words together in a row) 

   universit* or college*         (keywords)
     athlet* or sport*      (keywords)    
     commercializ*  (keywords)

2.  using alternative terms:

     birth control or contraceptive* (keywords)
     advertis* (keywords) 

3.  search using descriptors (official subject terms)

     homeless (keywords)
     pet* (keywords)

     homeless (descriptor)
     pet    or pets    or animal*  (keywords)

4. more examples:

     undocumented (keywords)
     student* (keywords)
     college* or universit* (keywords)

     california (keywords)
     initiative* (keywords)
     immigra* (keywords)

     california (keywords)
     ballot (keywords)
     immigra* (keywords)

     african american* or black* (de)
     infant mortalit* or maternal mortalit* (keywords)

• click on the title to see full record (including abstracts and descriptors)
• to limit by publication type (peer-reviewed journals, conferences, books, etc.) click on the appropriate tab or link
• if necessary,look for other limits (latest update, journal articles only, english only) and more advanced searches
• select records to save to your personalized list; lists may be e-mailed, downloaded, printed