Check out the library's self-paced tutorial, How do I search library databases?, to learn the basics of database searches.
1. What is Mardigian Search and why should I use it?
- Mardigian Search is the library's Discovery search box, which looks through all of the library's databases at once.
- Mardigian Search is great for:
- finding out what's been studied in your research area
- finding sources about interdisciplinary topics
2. How do I find information that answers the Whale Evolution Essay questions?
- Use the Whale Evolution exhibit and the three articles in the essay instructions document in Canvas as the basis for answering the essay questions
- Find peer-reviewed articles that help you learn more about specific aspects of cetacean or canine evolution that you'd like to explore in more depth.
- Peer-reviewed articles are about studies on very specific areas of research, so these will help you learn more about specific aspects of cetacean or canine evolution.
- For example, if you want to learn more about limb loss during whale evolution, search for cetacea limb evolution
3. How do I find articles about my species for the Zoo Observation?
- Use the species name as your search word(s)
- Example search: warthog
4. Once I've identified specific behaviors for my species in my first zoo observation, how do I search for those behaviors?
- Add the specific behavior, or a category of behavior, one at a time to your search
- Example searches: warthog nesting warthog sociality
5. I'm looking for a specific article or book. How do I find out if the library has it?
- Enter the title into the search box, removing all punctuation
6. How do I focus my search hits to current, peer-reviewed journal articles?
- Use options in the Refine Results sidebar of your list of search hits to focus them to current, peer-reviewed journal articles:
- Peer-reviewed articles:
- Click on Peer Review
- Under Content Type, click on Journal article
- Current/Recent articles:
- Under Publication Date, move the scroll bar over to 2008 to present
- Click on See more... under Subjects to identify more specific subjects of research for your species
7. I have too many irrelevant search hits. How do I focus them?
- Under Discipline, click on relevant disciplines to focus your search results to those disciplines
- Under Subject Terms, click on the subjects that interest you to focus your search results to your specific research areas of interest
- When you find an article that looks interesting, look at its assigned tags (subjects)
- Click on Preview below the article description
- Look at its assigned Subjects/tags
- Add any relevant tags (words) to your search
- This will also help you develop your research topics and search for books and articles for them
78. How do I know my search words match the tags assigned to articles about my research question?
- As you scroll through the search hits, look at the Subjects (tags) assigned to the relevant articles you find, and see if they match your search words
- Subjects (tags) also help you identify the specific issues around your topic so you can give it direction and develop it into a focused research question
9. How do I preview the abstract/summary of articles in the list of search hits?
- Click on Preview below the article description
10. How do I access the article so I can read the whole thing?
- Click on Full Text Online
- Look for pdf Full Text or HTML Full Text links
10. I can't find anything on my topic. What do I do?
- The search words you're using to describe your topic may not match the tags that have been assigned to books and articles on that topic
- Look through the Subject terms in the Refine Your Search sidebar and check the boxes beside the topic areas that interest you
- When you find an article that looks interesting, look at its assigned tags/subjects
- Add any relevant tags to your search
- This will also help you develop your research questions and search for articles about your specific research questions
- There may not be research tying your main ideas together yet
- Try searching for your main ideas separately and linking their findings together
- If you've found one article that's relevant for your topic, look through the sources in its References list to see if any of them are also relevant to your research