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Political Science

Basic Search Tips

SearchKeywords

Unlike Google, library databases can't understand an entire sentence. So you'll need to break your topic down into the most important ideas - the KEYWORDS.

Example Topic: What was the effect of social media on candidate preference in the 2016 US presidential election?

The specifics of your topic will matter when selecting sources, but for searching you only need the most essential components.

Keywords: social media, candidate preference, 2016 US presidential election

Synonyms

Most words have synonyms that mean the same, or very similar, things. For each keyword in your topic, try to come up with at least one synonym. Not all keywords will have synonyms, but many do!

Example: 

Keyword: social media Synonym: Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, etc.

 

Abbreviations and Common Names

Sometimes articles will include the abbreviations and acronyms and other times they will spell out the complete words. Do the same in your search.

PAC or Political Action Committee
GOP or Republican Party

 

Truncations

You can include words with many forms and endings into a single search term by using the asterisk (*) symbol. This will eliminate the need to type every form and ending of a single word.

manag* = managerial, manager, manage, manangement, etc.

 

Keep an Eye Out

Sometimes scholars use terms that you might not be familiar with, or which might mean something very specific within the discipline. While searching, look for unfamiliar terms or words that show up a lot. Try searching for those and see if you find more relevant sources.

Most library databases ways to filter results. Try some of these:

  • Full Text: This gives results for articles and books that are immediately available to read in full text. Keep in mind that physical print books will be excluded. Also, you may be eliminating a possible result that you can easily get through InterLibrary Loan.
  • Subject: Think of subjects as official hashtags. Use them to find sources about that subject. Many databases, such as CINAHL, have a list of official subject headings or a thesaurus to help you.
  • Date Range: Limit your search to sources published between specific years.
  • Scholarly and Peer Reviewed: Limit your search to scholarly journal articles.
  • eBooks and Print Books: Limit your search to items found in the Classic Catalog (physical books, eBooks, DVDs, other physical library materials).
  • Print Books at Farley Library: Limit your search to print books found on the shelves in Farley Library.

Toggle to the "Search Options" tab for different search modes, including Natural Language and Proximity searches.

Advanced Search Tips

Use the operator AND to find only sources that mention both keywords.

social media AND candidate preference

This search will bring back fewer results than searching either keyword on its own.

Use the OR operator to expand your search with additional keywords.

social media OR Facebook

This will find sources that include either word, so you'll see more results than by searching for just one keyword.

Use the “QUOTES” strategy to search for several words in a phrase.

"social media"

This will bring back results that only use that exact phrase.

Are you seeing too many results that are simply not relevant to your topic?

NOT Facebook

Try using the NOT filter, and put those words in quotations which removes that keyword from your results list.