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WRT 102 - Desert Vista - Clarke: Find Articles/Search Tips

More Databases

Academic Journals

Encyclopedias

Newspapers

EBooks

Magazines

Special Search Strategy

Truncation: *

  • The asterisk * is a common symbol used to represent any number of letters at the ends of words

  • Helps find singulars, plurals, and variant endings of words

  • Example: docu* finds documents, document, documentation, documented

Limiters:

  • Most databases let you limit search results. Some limiters include:

    • Language  

    • Publication type..such as Peer-Reviewed or Scholarly Journals.

    • Date of Publication

​Phrases: " "

  • Enclose phrases in quotation marks when searching the Web or most databases

  • Phrase searching in individual databases may vary. 

  • Example: "sanctuary cities"

  • Example: "federal government"

MLA Style for Academic Work

Keyword Searching

State Your Topic as a Question:

  • For example, if you are interested in finding out about how sanctuary cities help immigrants, phrase your question: "How do sanctuary cities protect immigrants?
  • Identify the Keywords in your question. Here they are sanctuary cities, protect* and immigrants.

​​Too Much Information? 

  • If you are finding too many sources, narrow your topic by using the "and" operator.

For example: "sanctuary cities" and immigrants and protect*

Too Little Information?

  • You may need to broaden your topic or perhaps select a different one. Broaden your topic by linking similar words with the "or" operator.