Ways to Search for Sources
This page outlines three different ways to search for sources:
Searching by Keyword or Topic
1. Try starting with a research question in mind:
How do roadways affect the migratory patterns of white-tailed deer?
2. Limit to the main concepts:
roadways migratory patterns white-tailed deer
3. After trying a search using the main concepts, you can test out some of the Boolean search terms, quotes, and truncation symbols to expand and limit your search:
| AND | Limits | (cat) AND (dog) limits to only papers with both the word cat and the word dog. Usually assumed: cat dog will yield the same result. | |
| OR | Expands | (cat) OR (dog) expands to papers with the word cat and papers with the word dog, and papers with both cat and dog. | |
| NOT | Limits | (cat) NOT (dog) limits to papers that have cat but not dog | |
| " " | Limits | "German shepherd dog" will find papers only with the words German shepherd dog in that exact order and spelled that exact way. | |
| * | Expands | anim* will find papers with the words: animal, animals, animate, animated, animosity, etc. |
4. Use synonyms to expand your search.
For example, I would try a search for the main concepts listed above, but as I'm searching I might want to expand or limit my search by adding synonyms or more search terms:
(roads OR streets OR development) AND (migrat*) AND ("white-tailed deer" OR "O. virginianus") NOT accidents
Similar to helping organize a math equation, parentheses help organize a search with Boolean search terms.
Searching by Known Citation Information
You may already have the information for a source you would like to locate. Most databases provide filters to help you locate articles using the specific citation information. An example of a citation in APA 7th edition is shown below.
For example, this screenshot of the Advanced Search option on the Library's ESearch tool shows dropdown options adjusted for title and author.
Searching for Sources Using Gen AI
Generative artificial intelligence (also known as gen AI) tools can potentially be used to locate sources for a research topic, but you should always take care to closely examine AI generated content for bias and accuracy. The following steps outline how to search for sources using gen AI:
- Choose your tool.
- Design your prompt to be clear about what you're looking for. Provide a clear but brief explanation of your assignment or goal and your topic or subject. Briefly explain what you are looking for and why you are looking for it.
- Use the generative AI output to locate a citation. Some gen AI tools provide direct links to sources, other will give you a generated citation. Be careful with generated citations, the articles may not actually contain the information you are looking for, or they might not even exist! (This is known as a 'hallucination.')
- Examine the output for bias and accuracy. Questions to ask yourself: Is the article a real article? Where is the pdf of the actual article? (You may have to do a separate search using the library resources.) Is it published in a real academic journal? Is the journal peer-reviewed? Does the article actually say what the gen AI tool claims it says? Are the authors real? What are the credentials of the authors? When was the article written? Is this article relevant to your research?
