Research Guides: Engineering Summer Academy (BESST): Searching strategy

Search preparation

Step 1:

Choose topic or has a topic been provided by instructor?
Brainstorm about topic – is it too broad or too narrow? Browse ASEE Prism Magazine for ideas
Break topic into keywords
Construct a search strategy using AND, OR and Truncation *

Step 2:

Select database (s) from this research guide or check Databases by Subject or consult a librarian; OneSearch is a good place to start
Check your results – are you getting relevant hits? No? Consult box opposite.
Limit by date; in engineering we generally search for articles published in the last 5 years for currency
Limit by type of material if necessary (usually limit to peer-reviewed articles) but check your syllabus – are magazine articles, chapters in books, books acceptable?

Step 3:

Review titles and abstracts (summaries) of articles and decide which ones are relevant to your topic
Are they full-text? Check for PDF links or click on Getit@CSULB link to find full-text in other databases
If not available full-text, you can request via BeachReach

Not getting enough? Getting too many?

Getting not enough or no results? (HOW TO GET MORE)

Check spelling
Check which field you are searching (topic, author, etc.)
Use less key words (get less specific)
Use more "OR's" (common name, synonyms)
Try another database

Getting too many results? (HOW TO GET LESS)

Add more concepts (get more specific)
Use more limiters (years, peer-reviewed only, etc.)

Reference

Reserve

Call number

Database

Citation

Abstract

Peer Reviewed

Journal

Reference - Encyclopedias etc. that cannot be checked out

Reserve - Books and other items for courses selected by instructors

Call Number - Number on the spine of a book or journal determining its place on the shelf

Database -searchable list of article titles and abstracts

Citation - identifying information of an article (title, author, etc.)

Abstract - summary of an article found at the beginning and in databases

Peer Reviewed - A premium quality journal article that has been reviewed by others knowledgeable in the field prior to publication

Journal - a published collection of articles (previously in print, now frequently online only)

Engineering Summer Academy (BESST): Searching strategy

Search preparation

Step 1:

Choose topic or has a topic been provided by instructor?

Brainstorm about topic – is it too broad or too narrow? Browse ASEE Prism Magazine for ideas

Break topic into keywords

Construct a search strategy using AND, OR and Truncation *

Step 2:

Select database (s) from this research guide or check Databases by Subject or consult a librarian; OneSearch is a good place to start

Check your results – are you getting relevant hits? No? Consult box opposite.

Limit by date; in engineering we generally search for articles published in the last 5 years for currency

Limit by type of material if necessary (usually limit to peer-reviewed articles) but check your syllabus – are magazine articles, chapters in books, books acceptable?

Step 3:

Review titles and abstracts (summaries) of articles and decide which ones are relevant to your topic

Are they full-text? Check for PDF links or click on Getit@CSULB link to find full-text in other databases

If not available full-text, you can request via BeachReach

Not getting enough? Getting too many?

Getting not enough or no results? (HOW TO GET MORE)

Check spelling

Check which field you are searching (topic, author, etc.)

Use less key words (get less specific)

Use more "OR's" (common name, synonyms)

Try another database

Getting too many results? (HOW TO GET LESS)

Add more concepts (get more specific)

Use more limiters (years, peer-reviewed only, etc.)

Library Lingo