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Women's & Gender Studies Research

Access Library Resources Online

Trying to access library resources online? Follow the instructions on the Online Access to Library Resources page to access library databases, articles, and ebooks, both on-campus and off-campus.

Mardigian Search

Advanced Search

Search FAQs

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?

2. How do I search for articles about my topic or research question?

  • Identify the keywords of your argument and use those as your search words
  • Each article has tags assigned to it, words or shorts phrases that make them searchable - you want your search words to match those tags
  • Words like factors, effects, issues, relationships, impact are usually not used as tags - don't include them as search words
  • Example topicWhat is the gendered impact of financial crises in developing countries?
    • A search about this topic could be: gender* financial cris?s "developing countries"
      • gender* searches for gender and gendered
      • cris?s searches for crisis and crises
      • "developing countries" searches as a phrase, not two separate words

3. How do I focus the search hits to relevant articles that meet my assignment requirements?

  • Use Refine Your Search options to focus your search hits
  • Peer-reviewed articles:
    • Click on Peer Review 
    • Click on Journal article under Content Type
  • Current/Recent articles:
    • Under Publication Date, move the scroll bar over to 2006 to present 

4. I have too many irrelevant search hits. How do I focus them?

  • Under Subject Terms, click on More... to open a list of all Subject Terms
    • Click on the subjects that interest you to add them to your search
    • Scroll to the top of the list of Subject Terms and click on Apply
  • When you find an article that looks interesting, look at its assigned tags (words) 
    • 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

5. How do I know my search words match the tags assigned to articles about my research area?

  • 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 populations or issues in your research area

6. How do I preview the abstract/summary of articles in the list of search hits?

  • Click on Preview below the article description

7. 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

8. How do I find articles that have cited an article I find in Mardigian Search?

  • Web of Science
    • Look for the Web of Science: [number] box to the right of your search hits - click on the number to get a list of articles that have cited your article ​
    • If you don't see the Times Cited number, you need to connect to UM-Dearborn VPN. Follow the ITS VPN Setup Instructions to install VPN and go to the ITS VPN Troubleshooting page if you have any trouble installing or using VPN. 
  • To read the articles you identified as relevant in Web of Science:
    • Enter the target article title in the above Mardigian Search box
    • Click on the Full Text Online link or or the article title to access the full text of the article from the list of search hits

9. 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
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