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 my topic?
- Identify the keywords of your topic 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 are usually not used as tags - don't include them as search words
- Since you are studying debates, you may need to do two separate searches for articles about each side of the debate and use them to draw your own conclusions
- Example topic:: How do we balance the hunting rights of indigenous people with the need for wildlife conservation of endangered species in nature reserves?
- Search 1: indigenous people hunting rights nature reserves
- Search 2: wildlife conservation endangered species nature reserves
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:
- Use the options under Publication Date to focus to recent articles
4. 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
- Example: some articles use indigenous populations or native people to describe indigenous people
- Modified search: (indigenous OR native) (people OR populations) hunting rights wildlife conservation
- (indigenous OR native) will search for articles or books tagged with any of the words in parentheses
5. I have too many search hits, and a lot of them seem irrelevant. 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
6. How do I preview the abstract/summary of articles in the list of search results?
- 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. 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
