1. Library Search Tips for
Finding Better Information

2. Let’s say you have chosen your
research topic: The death penalty’s
impact on crime rates.
And now you need to find some
quality sources you can use in your
paper.

3. Library resources are more organized,
reviewed by experts, and searchable in
advanced ways to help you find higher
quality information in less time.
Remember that
Google falls
short when you
need trustworthy
information, in
part because
anyone can
publish anything
online.

4. A great place to search for your
topic, assuming you have already
learned some background info, is
the search box on the library
homepage.

5. But do you think it would be a good
idea to search for the whole topic, as
a phrase?

6. No. Library databases are pickier
than general search engines like
Google and they don’t understand
full sentences.

7. Instead, you need to break your
topic down to its key concepts, or
keywords, and then just search for
those.

8. The death penalty’s impact on crime
rates
Identifying Keywords

9. The death penalty’s impact on crime
rates
Identifying Keywords
Crime RatesDeath Penalty

10. “Don’t Search” Words
• Impact
• Affect
• Effect
• Help
• Aid
• Cause
These words are important in your research
question, but the articles and books you are
looking for are not likely to use those exact words,
so you will miss a lot of valuable search results!
There are certain types of words you should
usually not use in library database searches.
• Change
• Influence
• Improve
• Pro or Con
• Benefit
• Importance

11. Also, before you start searching, it is
important to think about how someone else
might have worded the ideas you have.
The articles and books you are looking for
might also use different words for the same
concepts.

12. What is another way to refer to
“death penalty?”
Death Penalty

13. What is another way to refer to
“death penalty?”
Death Penalty
Capital
Punishment
Executions

14. And what about “crime rates?” This
one is trickier. Think of either
synonyms or related concepts that
might be broader or narrower
terms.
Crime Rates

15. And what about “crime rates?” This
one is trickier. Think of either
synonyms or related concepts that
might be broader or narrower
terms.
Crime Rates
Deterrent
Effect
Crime
Prevention
Homicide
Rates
Criminal
Statistics

16. If you’re stuck, you can use a
thesaurus to help generate
synonyms and alternative keywords.

17. Other great places to find keywords are
reference sources (like encyclopedias)
used for learning background information.

18. Now that we have keywords and
synonyms, it’s time to search.
You can start with a simple search for what you
guess will be the most effective keywords and
then try a few other combinations later.

19. Or you can take use a technique known as
Boolean searching to get even more
precise results right from the start.
Boolean is the use of special words (OR
and AND) that tell the database more about
what terms you are looking for.

20. AND – narrows your search (fewer results) by telling
the database to look for all of the search terms used.
OR – broadens your search (more results) by telling
the database to look for any of the search terms used.

21. You can select “Advanced Search” and build
a more complex search using both of these
Boolean operators.
(Note: If you enter search terms without any
Boolean operator between them, the database
will act as though there is an AND between them.)

22. If you don’t get enough results, you may
want to try additional terms connected by
OR (broadening your search).
If you get too many results, look at the
subject limiters or add another search term
connected by AND (narrowing your search).

23. To see the importance of coming up with keyword
synonyms, look at this journal article. It uses the
terms “executions” and “homicide rates,” so if we
just searched for “death penalty” and “crime
rates,” we wouldn’t find it, although it turns out to
be a great source for our research topic.

24. It’s important to realize that you won’t do one
perfect search and instantly find all of the
sources you need. Instead, you learn more
as you search, discover new search terms,
and alter your search strategy based on
what you find.

25. For example, if I started by searching for
“death penalty AND crime,” I might come
across this source, and now I have three
additional keywords I might not have
thought of to try out in a new search.

26. Another great way
to narrow your
search is using the
filters, or limits,
found on the left
sidebar of the
LibSearch results
screen.

27. You can add multiple limits including source
type, subject, publication year, full-text
availability, language, geographical area
covered, and much more.

28. Clicking on the title of a source brings you to the detailed record
where you can find an abstract (summary) of the content, the
source’s subject terms and the credentials of the author(s).
Looking at the abstract is a great way
to quickly see if an article is right for
your project without having to read
the whole thing right away.

29. For online articles and ebooks, you can access
their full-text instantly.
Once in a while you may not see a full-text link for
an article, which means we only have the citation
and abstract. Check with a librarian to see if you
have any other options for accessing the full-text of
the article.

30. It is very important to keep track of every
source you use when researching for your
project. On the right side of the article
results screen you can generate the
citation and print, save (on your
computer or a flash drive) or email articles
in PDF form to yourself.
You can’t simply copy and paste the url
(web address) of an article page because
it’s just a temporary address: it won’t work
later on. You can, however, click
Permalink to generate a link that you can
use later.

31. For books, be sure to check if it is a Sinclair book
in the Dayton campus library or an OhioLINK book
at another Ohio university or college.

32. Recall that LibSearch searches the
Sinclair Library Catalog and most of
our databases at the same time.

33. You can also use the tabs to limit to
just Articles or Books. Or go straight
into an individual article database,
which you can find in a LibGuide or our
Databases A-Z List.

34. If you are in an individual database, you will
find the same features but they might look
different and be in a new place.
Saving articles in CQ Researcher
Advanced (Boolean) searching in Opposing Viewpoints
Search limits in LexisNexis Academic

35. Next Steps: Look over the resources in
the “further activities” section to the
right and try out LibSearch below this
presentation. Then take the Quiz on the
right.
Also, please leave any comments or
questions you have below this
presentation.

36. Credits
Images
Title Slide - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lexis_Search.jpg
Key Takeaways: To search effectively for your
research topic, break your research question
down to just its two or three key concepts, or
keywords. (ex. “death penalty crime” for “does the
death penalty decrease rates of violent crime?”)
Then think of synonyms for your keywords, since
different authors use different words to refer to
the same concepts (ex. “capital punishment,”
“homicide rates,” “deterrent effect”).
When you find an article in a library database,
DON’T save the url/web address (it isn’t
permanent) but DO use the Tools menu to
save/print/email it.