Look through your textbook, class notes, and other materials to see what sparks your interest
Choose something you are interested in learning more about. Remember, you will be spending a lot of time researching and writing about it
How would you describe your topic to someone who knows nothing about it?
What keywords or terms would you use?
Do these keywords or terms have any synonyms?
As your research progresses, use more specific or additional keywords to find more specific resources. Use broader terms or less keywords to find additional resources that include information on your topic
Try using the Search feature at the top of the Library's homepage to search all print and online resources available to students, faculty, staff, and administrators at SUNY Schenectady
Look at the Databases by Subject on the Library's website and select one of the databases (collections of resources available online) that looks relevant to your topic
If your instructor has suggested a database, try using it
If you are unsure where to start, try using a general database such as Academic Search Complete or Academic OneFile
This is best done using the Advanced Search feature of the database
Put one keyword or concept on each line
Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to expand your search
Boolean operators are words added to a search to make it broader (OR), more specific (AND), or to exclude a word or term from the search (NOT)
AND finds results with all of the search terms used
Best used between different keywords or concepts
guns AND violence AND children
OR finds results with at least one of the search terms used
Best used for synonyms
guns OR weapons OR rifles
NOT excludes results that include the term or terms after the word NOT
Guns NOT rifles
Quotation marks
When using quotation marks to search in a database it's important to use them when the combination and order of words is important in searching for specific information
Indicate the phrases within the quotation marks need to be found next to each other in that order
"black dogs" will find only items with the words in that order, next to each other
black dogs will find all items that have both words somewhere in the item, whether the words are next to each other or in that order or not
Date of publication (also known as Currency)
Limit your results by Date
How recent do your sources need to be?
Ask your instructor if your assignment does not provide this information
What types of resources do you need to use?
Limit your results by Format or Type
Ask your instructor if your assignment does not provide this information
See the section in this LibGuide on Common Types of Resources for more information on common types of resources available
