Search Strategy
Here is a good, basic formula for getting started with your research:
- Begin by narrowing down your topic and developing an initial research question.
- Use the keyword brainstorming worksheet to help you tweak your research question, identify keywords and related terms, and keep track of what you find.
- Search in a library catalog (Summon, OBIS, OhioLINK and/or WorldCat) to find books and reference sources. These sources will:
- provide BACKGROUND and CONTEXT
- REVIEW and SUMMARIZE earlier work
- help you FOCUS your topic and
- provide CITATIONS to important books, journal articles, conference papers, interviews, etc.
- Next, search research databases to find articles. The library has hundreds of databases; those listed on this guide are good places to begin.
- You may also wish to use Google Scholar to search the Internet. This is a great tool for doing cited reference searches.
Search Tips
| Phrase searching Use phrase searching when word order is important. |
Example - "iron curtain" - "musical union" |
| Truncation Use * to substitute for 1-5 characters. Use ** to substitute for truncation of any number of characters. Use ? to substitute for a single character. |
Example - photograph* - dmit** shosta** (Dmitri Shostakovich) - wom?n - alga? |
| Operators
Use "AND" to search ALL words. Use "OR" to search ANY single word. Use "NOT" to exclude words. Use parentheses to group similar words. |
Example - (zooplankton OR crustacea*) AND (marine OR ocean** OR sea) - environmental policy NOT united states |
Librarian
Alonso Avila
Contact:
106 Mudd Center
(Mary Church Terrell Main Library)
alonso.avila@oberlin.edu
440-775-8285
(Mary Church Terrell Main Library)
alonso.avila@oberlin.edu
440-775-8285
Subjects: Africana Studies, Comparative American Studies
Research Help
Chat with us during online help hours
Email us at reference@oberlin.edu
Schedule a research appointment
Watch "How do I?" video tutorials