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 search for popular sources about my topic?
- Identify your search words:
- Identify the keywords of the geographical area or archeological period you're studying
- Each book and article has tags assigned to it, words or shorts phrases that make them searchable - you want your search words to match those tags
- Example: The question for your research project is: What factors determine whether or not children experience catch up growth?
- To search for this topic: catch up growth child*
- child* will search for child and children
- "catch up growth" will search for catch up growth as a phrase, not separate words
3. How do I focus my search hits to popular sources?
- In the Refine Your Search sidebar::
- Check the boxes beside Newspaper Article, Magazine Article, Video Recording, and Streaming Video under Content Type
4. How do I preview the abstract/summary of articles in the list of search hits?
- Click on Quick Look below the article title to look at the abstract of the article
5. 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
6. 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
- Try a Google Search
- Ask your course professor or the Anthropology librarian, Nadine Anderson, for help
