Simple searches of one or two words work best for these databases.

QUOTATION MARKS

• Put exact phrases in quotation marks but remember SPELLING COUNTS!
  • “time management”
  • “social media"

KEYWORDS

• Brainstorm some additional search terms
  • equal rights: equality, social justice, suffrage
  • philanthropy: altruism, charity, generosity, endowment

BOOLEAN OPERATORS

• Use operators to link ideas and narrow/broaden your search
  • “driver's license” AND elderly
  • “death penalty” OR “capital punishment”
  • “united states” NOT europe

TRUNCATION

• Use an asterisk (*) to expand your search to other variations of a root word
  • succe* - returns results for "success", "successful", "succeed", etc. 
  • determin* - returns results for "determined", "determination", etc.

The ARC Library uses a service called "OneSearch" that lets you search all of the library's books, journal articles, and databases from one place. While this is very convenient, it can overwhelm you with results. Don't despair! Combining a well-crafted search and using the options available to limit your results in OneSearch can get you just what you need!

OneSearch is exactly what its name implies: one place to search for many different kinds of sources -- including books, eBooks, scholarly articles, news articles, videos, and more!

Search Tips:

• 3-5 keywords often works well
• For example, if your research question is, "Can marine reserves help protect biodiversity?" You might try some of the following searches:
  • marine reserves biodiversity
  • ocean reserves biodiversity
  • ocean biodiversity
  • marine protected zones biodiversity
  • marine biodiversity
• Try different keywords (think synonyms)
  • dog
  • puppy
  • hound
• Take advantage of the limiters on the left of your search results to get current and relevant results.
  • Try limiting to "Full-Text Online" to find eBooks and online articles in OneSearch
  • 
• When typing in keywords, OneSearch will also populate with suggested keywords.