Sifting through wads of information can be daunting. Using these simple search strategies will help you refine your searches when you don't know exactly what you're looking for.
The easiest way to search is by keyword. This is true whether you are searching any kind of media within the library catalogue, online or using any of the databases Collarts provides access to. General keyword searches will return results which include your words anywhere in the record.
Some helpful hints on improving your search habits:
To search an EXACT phrase:
example - "heart disease"
To narrow your search to include records containing BOTH words:
example - search heart AND disease
To broaden your search to include EITHER OR BOTH words:
example - heart OR disease
To narrow your search to not include a word:
example - heart NOT disease
For best results use ONE of these techniques at a time!
Don't waste your words! - using words such as the in your search are not useful and it is more productive to leave them off.
Advanced search - If you know what you are looking for in terms of a specific author, book or journal title use the drop down menu next to the search box, or click on advanced search, and choose the relevant marker.
Journal articles and databases can be pretty intimidating; all those scholarly looking resources with several authors all of whom have PhD's! Really though, journals are just magazines which are written with a focus on a particular scholarly intent, or subject area. They contain trusted content to use for your research as they are authoritative, easily understandable as they follow a particular writing structure which includes an abstract, introduction and conclusion (which may help to influence your own writing!), they are regularly published, and they answer specific questions within a particular subject area. When you have a specific idea or question to explore, journal articles can help a great deal. Collarts provides access to a number of databases which include journals and other reliable resources.
One of the easiest ways to search within any of these databases is to first narrow your search by subject. There will be an option somewhere on the databases home page, or drop down menu, to do this.
