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Undergraduate Research

This LibGuide will provide an overview of the research process, finding and evaluating information, and appropriate use of citation for undergraduate students completing a research project.

Inter-library Loan

We don't have the title you want? You can request it through our InterLibrary Loan form. You can request books or even submit a request for another library to scan an article that they have in print and send it to you via email.

 

Library Catalog

Databases, Journals and Articles

A database contains journals in which articles are published.  

  • To discover articles on topics of interest to you, search our databases using the A to Z list or by subject here.  
  • If you need to find a specific article and you know the title of the journal in which it is published, click "Journals" from the library home page and enter the journal title.
  • You can also browse by journal title or subject here.
  • To search the majority of the library's electronic collection with one search, use WorldCat Discovery

Boolean Searches or Combining Keywords

A Boolean search combines keywords with operators (AND, NOT, and OR) to produce more relevant results when you are searching. 

Truncation and Wildcards

Some databases allow certain symbols to be used for searching multiple forms of a word. The Help section of each database will tell you if these symbols will work for seaches in their databases.

Plurals -- A plus sign (+) added to the end of a word instructs the database to search for singular and plural forms of a word. Example: holiday+ retrieves holiday or holidays

Truncation -- An asterisk (*) added to the end of a root word instructs the database to search for all forms of a word. Example: house* retrieves house, houses, households, etc.

Wildcards -- A wildcard is a symbol used to represent any character. The pound symbol (#) is often used as a wildcard. Example: wom#n retrieves woman or women

Citation Searching

Citation searching is a technique used to gain scholarly insight and find resources relating to a particular topic. Using a particularly good resource you have found for a project,

Look backwards - at the reference list. An examination of the resources cited in an article or book can:

  • lead you to other resources that discuss this topic.
  • give you a snapshot of the thinking and research available at the time of publication.
  • reveal what ideas or theories have influenced a researcher.

Look forwards - find out if other researchers have cited this resource. This can give you insight into:

  • the impact of the resource on the scholarly landscape - how it has (or has not) shaped subsequent research and scholarship.
  • look for "Cited by" or "Times Cited" features in some databases - or get access to a citation tracker.