Depending on the database, it may offer a variety of ways to limit your results:
For articles that are not available in full text, use the InterLibrary Loan service.
Most databases use a controlled vocabulary to organize information and make browsing more efficient and specific to chosen terms. When building your search string, consider keywords, synonyms or related terms. See several examples in the table below.
Subject Terms | Related Terms |
---|---|
Cyberbullying | School bullying or Internet bullying |
Computer crimes | Cybercriminals |
Digital media | Digital communications |
Also, combine or group terms or concepts using the Boolean operator "AND" to refine your search string: cyberbullying AND social media or try the search string: social media AND fake news . Check to see if the database offers a Thesaurus or a Subject Terms tab or link. For instance, the database Academic Search Premier offers a "subject terms" tab, and the ERIC database features a "thesaurus" tab, while ProQuest offers a "thesaurus" link. Enter terms in the Browsing box to see how the database recognizes them.
When a good article is found, check to see how it is indexed (what subject terms are used). For example, using the general database Academic Search Premier and the search term "cyberbullying," the article for "Cyberbullying" Who Hurts, and Why" (see the example below) provides additional subject terms for consideration to either create a new search or to combine with the original search term.
Please see information guide provided by UMass Amherst Libraries about College Writing and Evaluating Websites, Evaluating Resources on the Web, and Evaluating Videos. See link below.
Some NSU Library Google videos.