Countries and Cultures (Dale Mabry): Search tips

Think of 1-4 keywords or key phrases that express your topic (rather than a full sentence). Some examples:

Culture of a country or region:

• jamaica culture
• jamaica culture rastafarian - additional keyword makes results more precise
• "central america" culture - the " " searches both words as a phrase

Native or ethnic peoples within one or more countries:

• kurd* culture - the asterisk* searches variants of the word Kurd (Kurds, Kurdish)
• inca* ecuador - searches variants of the word Inca (Incas, Incan) along with the name of a country other than Peru that has Incan heritage

Particular Aspects of a Country or Culture:

• cumbia colombia - searches  this traditional dance of Colombia
• pierogi* poland - specific part of a country's food culture
• kurd* marriage traditions - an aspect of the Kurdish people's culture
• kurd* wedding customs - related terms bring up different results

Similar techniques can be used whether searching the library's catalog, PRIMO—or many research databases.

Also try HCC Library databases. Filter by subject—or try the databases that are recommended on this guide.