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 articles about my research question?
- Identify the main ideas of your topic and use those as your search words
- Each journal article, magazine article, and newspaper 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 influences, factors, effects, challenges are usually not used as tags - don't include them as search words
- Example: What factors influence the development of gender identity among second generation Muslim immigrants?
- Search: "second generation" muslim immigrants* gender identity
- "second generation" searches for second generation as a phrase, not separate words
- immigrant* searches for immigrant and immigrants
3. 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
4. How do I focus the search results to relevant articles that meet my assignment requirements?
- Use Refine Your Search options to focus your search hits
- Peer-reviewed articles:
- Check Peer Reviewed
- Check Journal Article under the Content Type heading
- Current/Recent articles:
- Under Publication Date, move the scroll bar over to 2010 to present
5. I have too many irrelevant search results. How do I focus them?
- Use the options under Refine Your Search to focus your search hits
- Under Discipline, check relevant disciplines to focus your search results to those disciplines
- Under Subject Terms, check 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 Quick Look below the article title
- 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
6. 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:
- Click on Quick Look below the article title
- Look at the Subjects with which the article has been tagged - revise your search words to match those subjects
- Subjects (tags) also help you identify the specific issues around your topic and population so that you can give it direction and develop it into a focused research question
7. How do I preview the abstract/summary of articles in the list of search hits?
- Click on Quick Look below the article title
8. 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
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 sources about that topic. Try different search words that mean the same thing.
- 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.
- Ask your course professor or the Behavioral Sciences Librarian, Nadine Anderson, for help
