Successful

searching

Elizabeth Yates, PEKN

LibrarianMay 15, 2014

Your essay

• minimum of six academic sources

• academic sources may include peer-reviewed journal articles and books

Don’t freak!

Today’s outcomes

You will recall:

• How to use keywords and related words in SuperSearch to find academic sources

• Characteristics of the scholarly information ecosystem

• How to get help with research info

Scholarly information ecosystem

Search engines

Websites

Journals

Books

Databases

Archives

Just a taste …

The Research

Path

• Work from background to foreground

BACKGROUND INFO:-overview-key concepts & vocabulary

BOOKS

FOREGROUND:-very specific, timely aspects of topic

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Questions

1. What’s a book? Does it have to be in print? Do you have to read the whole thing?

2. What’s a journal?

Journals

• Publish scientific studies or scholarly discussions

• Focus on a specific academic discipline eg Kinesiology

• Publish at regular intervals (eg 4x year)

• Has a board of expert researchers who review journal articles for quality

TIP: Journal articles focus on very specific subjects

Think before you search

Try writing out a research question to focus on just what it is you want to know.

Example:How has sport influenced the development of Canada’s national identity?

Think like a search engine

>> keywords>> synonyms

TIP: start your search with 1-2 keywords; add more as needed to

get relevant results

What’s a keyword?

-usually a noun-main content words [ not filler]-word versus phrases/sentences

Keywords, synonyms, related words

Synonym: word meaning same as original wordRelated term: word with similar meaning to original term; could be broader or narrower than original

Sample topic

How has sport influenced the development of Canada’s national identity?

What are the keywords in this topic?What are some synonyms/related

words?

Research guide for Kinesiology-http://researchguides.library.brocku.ca/KIN

-Library website > left nav menu “Research Guides by Program”

Got terms: let’s search ’em

Pro Tip: Use this guide as your one-

stop shop for scholarly information

resources

BUT

SuperSearch

Succeed with SuperSearch

1. Use “quotes” to search for an exact phrase2. Use * to search for variations of a word

ending e.g. Canad* (Canada, Canadian)3. Refine your results: select “books & media @

Brock” or Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals”

4. Slide the Publication Date to adjust time period

5. Select “Subject” to find results focused on a specific aspect of your topic

6. Add another keyword to find results focused on a specific aspect of your topic

Getting stuff

• Books: call number• Articles: GetIt!

TIP >> see videos in Kinesiology Research Guide:-finding books-using Get It

Getting Help

Chat with us from this widget @ brocku.ca/library

Text us @ 289.271.8777

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Click on the Help Tab to search

topics by Category

Contact me:eyates@brocku.ca Or chat viaKinesiologyResearch Guide

Summing up