Research Guides

Learn how to search for information using the library catalog, article databases, and search engines by using these online guides and tutorials.

• Research Strategy


• Finding Books


• Finding Articles


• Finding Web Sites


• Evaluating Information Sources


• Intellectual Property
  
• Identifying Journals for Publishing an Article

Research Strategy

Alvernia Subject Guides
Alvernia College Library Guides for finding articles and books

Conducting a Literature Review in the Education & Behaviorial Sciences
An Adelphi University Library tutorial with four modules: 1) Understanding the literature review, 2) Identifying sources for the literature review, 3) Finding review and research articles, and 4) Putting it all together.

Five Research Strategies
A ten minute tutorial with five search techniques from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries

Guide to Library Research
A guide with suggested books and Web sites for writing a paper

Information Cycle
A Penn State tutorial on the way information is created and distributed

InfoSearch
An Alvernia College Library tutorial on searching, evaluating and citing information sources

Information Timeline
A timeline for selecting the most appropriate information source based on when an event occurred

An Introduction to the Concepts of Online Searching
A University of Illinois at Chicago Library tutorial on using synonyms, AND, and citations

Popular or Scholarly: How to Recognize Scholarly Journals
A comparison of the characteristics of different types of publications

Primary and Secondary Sources
Characteristics that differentiate primary and secondary sources

Tutorial for Information Power
An award winning tutorial with modules on investigating a topic, searching for information, evaluating the quality of information and utilizing the information from the University of Wyoming Libraries.

Finding Books

Dewey Decimal Classification System
The Dewey Decimal System organization of information

Finding Articles

Digital Dissertations (ProQuest)

Search Guide
Searching tips for accessing and downloading thesis and dissertations.

EBSCO

Advanced Search with Guided Style
A four minute tutorial demonstrating the use of fields such as journal name or author for searching, and setting limts such as date or type document to focus a search.

Business Source Premier
An advanced search tutorial from Athabasca University

CINAHL Tutorial
EBSCO CINAHL tutorial

PsycInfo
A basic and advanced search tutorial from Trinity Western University

Search Guide
Searching tips such as using OR, AND, NOT, truncation, wildcards, proximity searches and limiting searches to specific fields. Help tips on using folders, search history, saving searches, priniting and emailing, and saving your citations following a specific citation style like MLA or APA.

Browsing within a Thesaurus
Tips for using the thesaurus for finding subject terms.

Setting Up Search and Journal Alerts
A three minute tutorial on creating Search and Journal Alerts to provide automatic notification by e-mail

JSTOR

Basic Search Tutorial (2 minutes)

• Macromedia Flash version
• Quicktime version
• Windows Media Player version
  

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LexisNexis

Search Aids

LexisNexis Tutorials
Four tutorials on using the LexisNexis database

Power Search: Use the Index
Instructions on how to narrow your search using index terms

LexisNexis Business

Company Dossier: Compare Companies
Instructions on how to compare companies using Company Dossier

Company Dossier: Get A Company Profile
Instructions on how to get a Company Profile using Company Dossier

Company Dossier: Make A Company List
Instructions for creating a company list using Company Dossier

LexisNexis Legal*

Legal Search: Get A Case
Instructions for finding a specific case

Finding Cases
How to Find a Case by Party Name or Citation

• On the sidebar to the right, under Legal Searches, click on Federal and State Cases.
• If you know the party name(s), type that into the space provided for Case Name.
• If you know the citation, type that into the space provided for Citation Number.
• Click on the red Search button.

How to Find Cases on a Subject

• On the sidebar to the right, under Legal Searches, click on Federal and State Cases
• Enter Search Terms: Choose to search by Terms and Connectors or Natural Language.
  • Use terms that relate to the important issues and facts involved in your research. Do not use common words like “law”. Think of unique terms or phrases that describe your topic.
  • If you are using Terms and Connectors searching, click on “View Connectors” to choose the appropriate connectors between terms.
  • If you are using Natural Language searching, enter a question, a sentence, or a few descriptive terms.
  • Use quotation marks for an exact phrase.
• Select Sources: Search all Federal and State Cases or use the dropdown menu to select a smaller group of cases to search: Federal Cases, Supreme Court Cases, Arizona Cases, etc.
• Specify Date: Choose to search all available dates or limit your search by clicking on the dropdown menu and choosing a specific date or range of dates.
• Click on the red Search button.

How to Shepardize a Case

• On the sidebar to the right, under Legal Searches, click on Shepard’s Citations.
• Enter the citation.

Or

• To Shepardize a case you are reading, click on the dropdown menu under Next Steps, click on Shepardize and then click on GO.
  

How to Find an Article by Title, Author or Citation

• Law reviews are the default when you click on the red Legal tab.
• If you know the full or partial title of an article, type that into the space provided for Title of Article.
• If you know the author of an article, type that into the space provided for Author.
• If you know the citation of an article, type that into the space provided for Article Citation.
  • Click on Citation Help if you need formatting help.
• Click on the red Search button.
  

How to Find Articles on a Subject

• Law Reviews are the default when you click on the red Legal tab.
• Enter Search Terms: Choose to search by Terms and Connectors or Natural Language.
  • Use terms that relate to the important issues and facts involved in your research. Do not use common words like “law”. Think of unique terms or phrases that describe your topic.
  • If you are using Terms and Connectors searching, click on “View Connectors” to choose the appropriate connectors between terms.
  • If you are using Natural Language searching, enter a question, a sentence, or a few descriptive terms.
  • Use quotation marks for an exact phrase.
• Select Sources: Search all U.S. and Canadian Law Reviews or use the dropdown menu to select a smaller group of articles to search: UK Law Journals, ADR, Banking, Environmental, etc.
  • Click the Source Information icon to learn more about the contents of the currently selected source, including available document sections, information on updates, coverage/span, source overview, copyright, and publisher information.
  • To search a specific journal title, enter the name of the journal into the space provided for Title of Journal.
• How to Search Within Document Sections: Click the Show or Hide link to show or hide the document section search options. Document sections are specific fields of a document in which you may target your search. Using them in your search is a good way to narrow or limit your search when using common terms or when there are many articles on a general topic. For example, you may wish to search on the name of an author or the title of an article, or for specific words only within the headline. You may construct a search entirely out of document sections or combine a document section search with your other search terms. Follow the steps below to search within a document section:
  • Select whether to use the AND or OR connector when your document segment restriction is added to your search.
  • Select a document section from the Section dropdown list.
  • Enter search terms that are appropriate for the section you selected in the Terms text box.
  • Click the “Add to search” link to add your segment search criteria to the Enter Search Terms field. The syntax of your segment search will be automatically formulated.
  • Repeat these steps to add as many document section criteria as you wish.
  • Here are some examples:
    • title (important or benchmark or influential /5 decision or case! or opinion) and immigration
    • title (wrongful life); name (theodore w/3 mcdowell or mc dowell)
  • Click on the red Search button.
  • Specify Date: Choose to search all available dates or limit your search by clicking on the dropdown menu and choosing a specific date or range of dates.
  • Click on the red Search button.

*Adapted from the Ross-Blakley Law Library

LexisNexis News

News Search: Find A Critical Review
Instructions for finding reviews of books, theater, products and restaurants

News Search: Find An Editorial Or Opinion Piece
Instructions for finding an editorial or opinion piece

Sources Tab: Find Foreign Language News
Iinstructions for finding Foreign Language publications

Sources Tab: Search Newspapers By State
Instructions on how to search News by State

Proquest

ProQuest Quick Reference Guide
An introduction to using ProQuest databases

 

Finding Web Sites

Alvernia Internet Reference Library
A collection of Web site for Alvernia College students

Recommended Search Engines
A comparison of the features of the most popular search engines

Brodart DartClix
The Brodart DartClix consists of 16,000 professionally selected Web sites

Google Scholar
A search engine for finding scholarly articles, abstracts, books, and more

Recommended Internet Search Tools
Search engines and directories for finding information on the web

Searching with Success
A brief tutorial on web searching techniques from Vaughan Memorial Library, Acadia University

 

Evaluating Information Sources

Credible Sources Count
A ten minute tutorial on evaluating Web sites from Vaughan Memorial Library, Acadia University

Evaluation Criteria for Web Sources
Beck, Susan. 1997. Evaluation criteria.  The good, the bad & the ugly: or, why it's a good idea to evaluate Web sources

Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask
A comprehensive set of questions to consider in evaluating a Web Site

ICYou: T is for Thinking
A Guide to Critical Thinking About What You See on the Web

Intellectual Property

Basics of Intellectual Property
A UCLA Library tutorial on copyright, trademarks and patents

Need A File Share A File
A UCLA Library tutorial about the ethics and legality of file sharing

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Updated: April 22, 2008

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