Research Guides: ENC 1101-1102: Articles

Refining Searches

Use Keywords, Not Sentences

Keywords or search words are words used to represent the main ideas in your research/topic.

Example: "How will climate change affect sea level rise and flooding in Florida?"

Main concepts:

climate change
sea level rise
flooding
Florida

Think of additional keywords in case your search fails. Keep in mind that different writers will use the same concept in different ways.

Example:

climate change OR global warming

Finding Articles

Below you will find databases to locate articles to help you find sources for your research.

What are databases? Please check out the "What Are Databases" video to your right.

For your research you will need to gather sources that inform you on your idea, then read and analyze those sources.

Academic Search Complete
The world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 9,100 full-text periodicals, including nearly 7,900 peer-reviewed journals.

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A database of the back issues of core journals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. The gap between the most recently published issue of any journal and the date of the most recent issue available in JSTOR is from 2 to 5 years.
Tutorials:
How to search (04:20)
Primary Source Collection: 19th-Century British Pamphlets (00:51)

Abbreviation: jstor
Vendor: JSTOR
Coverage: 1665-present
Subjects: Arts Administration, Art History, *General / Multi-Subject
Type: E-Book Collections, E-Journal Collections
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Nexis Uni offers a simple, intuitive research experience with flexible search options and tools to help guide students through common research tasks. Nexis Uni offers the same trusted content collection of more than 15,000 news, legal and business sources that students and librarians alike have come to expect from LexisNexis, while also providing a better research experience.
Content:
Briefs, Pleadings and Motions
Cases
Company and Financial
Directories
Law Reviews and Journals
Legal News
News
Statutes and Legislation

Abbreviation: nexis
Vendor: LexisNexis
Subjects: Business, Business Legal Studies, Communication, Hospitality, Law, Psychology, Public Administration and Policy, Sociology
Type: Directories, Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires, Proceedings
Tallahassee Democrat This link opens in a new window
Complete full-text content of local and regional news, including community events, schools, politics, government policies, cultural activities, local companies, state industries, and people in the community. Paid advertisements are excluded.
Abbreviation: talldemo
Vendor: ProQuest
Coverage: 1999-Current
Subjects: Newspapers
Type: Citation Management, Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires
Los Angeles Times This link opens in a new window
The Los Angeles Times ranks as the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country. The Los Angeles Times' editorial department is one of the most formidable in the world—23 foreign, 9 national, five California and six regional bureaus—and the largest news-gathering operation in California
Abbreviation: latimes
Vendor: ProQuest
Coverage: 1985-Current
Type: Newspapers and Newswires
New York Times (The) This link opens in a new window
The New York Times is considered the "official" U.S. newspaper because it publishes the complete text of important documents, speeches, and presidential press conferences. The paper's reporters have won scores of Pulitzer Prizes throughout the publication's 150-year history.
See: New York Times 1980-Present Full Text (no images)
See also: New York Times 1923-2017 Full Text PDF
See also: New York Times 1851-2017 Full Text PDF

Abbreviation: nyt
Vendor: ProQuest
Coverage: 1980-Current
Type: Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires

Combining search terms with Boolean operators

Keyword Search Rules for the Library Catalog and Databases

Image courtesy of Tisch Library, Tufts University

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

What are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are the documents or artifacts closest to the topic of investigation that you will use as evidence to support your interpretation of the past. Often they are created during the time period which is being studied. Examples include:

Correspondence, diaries, newspapers, government documents, art
They can also be produced later by eyewitnesses or participants such as memoirs or oral histories
You may find primary sources in their original format--often in an archive--or reproduced in a variety of ways: published in books, on microfilm, or digitized in a searchable database

What are Secondary Sources?

For comparison , secondary sources are narratives, interpretations, and critical analysis of the past based on primary sources. They are created by writers who have the necessary distance in time to put the past in its broader context.

Secondary sources build upon and interpret primary sources, and typically respond to and debate with the secondary sources created by others. Secondary sources also come in a variety of formats, including peer-reviewed books and journal articles, presentations at conferences, professional blog posts, or magazine articles.

ENC 1101-1102