Research Tips
How to Search Through a Database:
SELECT A DATABASE
- Choose a database from the list below.
BEGIN SEARCH WITH 4-5 KEYWORDS related to your topic.
- Start off your search by using 1-2 of your keywords.
- Use more keywords when you need to narrow or broaden search.
USE FILTERS
- There are filters on the search bar that allow you to search by title, author, or text.
- Filters on the left-hand side can adjust: Date of publication, peer-reviewed, language, etc.
NARROW or BROADEN SEARCH with these tricks:
- AND will narrow your results.
- OR will broaden your results (think: or means more!).
- NOT will narrow your results by avoiding unwanted terms.
- “ “ (QUOTATION MARKS) will search for the EXACT phrase in quotation marks.
- * (ASTERICK) will broaden your search by finding all potential forms of that word. (Ex: prevent* will give you prevention, prevents, preventative, etc.)
Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles
DATABASES FOR SCHOLARLY TEXTS:
-
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A digital interdisciplinary archive of over 1,000 leading academic journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. JSTOR also includes other valuable materials for academic work, such as select monographs, photographs, manuscripts, speeches, maps, and pamphlets. All collections are full-text searchable, offer search-term highlighting, include high-quality images, and are interlinked by millions of citations and references. -
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window This interdisciplinary journal collection provides full-text access to over 300 scholarly journals. It is particularly strong in the humanities disciplines, such as literature, history, and area studies (Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe), but also has content from the sciences and the social sciences.
-
Academic Search Premier General database via EBSCO that covers a wide range of research resources, including core subjects such as applied science, art, education, humanities, law, social science, business, and technology. A good place to start research.
-
International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with full text This link opens in a new window Indexes the literature of the performing arts. It contains journal articles, books, book chapters, and dissertation abstracts on all aspects of theatre, dance and performance in 126 countries.
-
Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new windowNeed to find articles from over 600 journals covering various broad subjects in the humanities including archaeology, art, classics, film, folklore, linguistics, philosophy, religion, and world literature? Try this!
-
OmniFile Full Text Mega This link opens in a new window A multidisciplinary database covering applied sciences, art, education, humanities, law, social sciences, business and technology.
DATABASES FOR NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS:
-
US Newsstream This link opens in a new windowProvides access to many major U.S. and international newspapers, including local titles (LA Times, Orange County Register) and national titles.
-
Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowFormerly known as International Index to Performing Arts Full Text (IIPAFT). The Performing Arts Periodicals Database is a dynamic resource for the performing arts that provides indexing and abstracts for more than 210 international journals. International index for articles from performing arts journals and magazines. Database includes all aspects for the performing arts from theatre to the entertainment industry. The Performing Arts Periodicals Database is the performing arts section within this database. It can be searched separately or in a combined search with the Music Periodicals Database (formerly known as International Index of Music Periodicals Full Text), the music periodicals sections of the database.
Basic Article Search
Sample Topic:
The effect of Martha Graham upon dance in the United States
- Main concepts within this topic:
- Martha Graham and Dance and United States
- Other terms that might apply when search for information on this topic
- Martha Graham
- Dance or dancing or dancers or Modern Dance
- United States or American or America
- Terms you would not enter in a search like this:
- Effect or cause (because all articles will essentially be about effects or causes)
- In, and, the, an, this (skip the little words and go straight to the important stuff)
HERE IS HOW YOU WOULD SEARCH IN A DATABASE:
| Martha Graham | |
| AND | dance or dancing or dancers or modern dance |
| AND | United States or American or America |
Scholarly Texts
Scholarly Texts:
A scholarly text is a piece of writing that was written by a researcher for the purposes of expanding knowledge in a particular field. Generally these are published in academic journals or books. Scholarly texts are NOT for the purposes of entertainment, to sell a product, or the spreading news. For this reason you are not going to find scholarly texts in popular magazines or newspapers.
MORE TIPS:
- When in doubt, search for "peer-reviewed" articles. All "peer-reviewed" articles are scholarly texts.
- Do your research in a database that contains ONLY scholarly texts. JSTOR is an example of this.