Library Instruction -- Template

Attention

For the next revision:

Citations guide: https://libguides.hccfl.edu/citations

Here's an expanded glossary of library terms from ACRL: ACRL-IS Multilngual Glossary Definitions - Google Docs

New Purchase suggestion for DM library asset #68551403: 

Old PDF "material request form" is asset# 20480744.

Primo and Databases "Get Started" Handouts:

Here is some stuff--by Alicia....by Kathryn and Alicia....by Kathryn upon Alicia's request and with my input....and by Kathryn on her own.

How to get there

From Canvas, find “HCC Libraries Online” in the list menu of one of your courses, and follow that link. Or go to  the library homepage (hccfl.edu/library), and access the catalog from the “Search HCC Libraries with Primo” search bar or sign in link.

Think of keywords and search phrases

Think of a few words or phrases that represent your subject and thesis statement.

Examples:    respiration    global warming    education    Ernest Hemingway

You can leave out small words like articles (“a”, “an”, “the”) and prepositions (“of”, “for”, “at”), unless they’re a part of a title or phrase, like “grapes of wrath”. You can also leave out words like “relationship”, “cause”, “effect”, “comparison”, etc. For example, replace the effect of socioeconomic status on health to the simpler “socioeconomic status” AND health. (You’ll learn about the quotation marks and capital AND below.)

Keep track of your keywords in your notes so you can add more and change your search terms as you go. (Also keep track of the sources you find and where you found them.)

Try using Boolean search methods

AND, OR, and NOT

Using AND connects keywords and narrows down search results. It tells the system it needs to search for items with both one keyword and the other because you need sources that mention both.

Example:    exercise AND health

Using OR searches for multiple keywords and expands the search results. It tells the system it needs to search for items with at least one of the keywords—one keyword or the other, or both—because you need sources with at least one of them.

Example:    physical activity OR exercise

Using NOT eliminates unwanted keywords to narrow your results. It tells the system to ignore the words that aren’t relevant to your search. 

Example:    exercise NOT running

Quotation marks

Use quotation marks to do “phrase searching”. Enclosing phrases, names, and titles in quotation marks ensures that the search engine keeps all the words together in the right order, instead of searching for them as individual keywords.

Examples:     “global warming”    “mental health”    “feast or famine”

Parentheses

Using parentheses is a great way to keep your search organized, and your Boolean operators separated.

Example:    (exercise OR “physical activity” OR workout) AND (health OR wellness)

Wildcards

The asterisk (*)

You can shorten, or “truncate”, your keyword and add an asterisk (*) at the end of the root word. This finds multiple letters at the end of (or within) a word, so it can search for alternate endings of a root word.

Example:    expen* searches for expense, expensive, expenditure, expend, etc.
                     arch*logy searches for archeology and archaeology

The question mark (?)

You can replace a single letter in your keyword with a question mark to tell the search to find multiple versions of that word.

Example:    wom?n searches for woman and women

Or use the Advanced Search

The Advanced Search has Boolean options already ready to use in boxes that you can fill out. You can use a different keyword/phrase on each line, and tell it whether you want it to be AND, OR, or NOT. You can also narrow down the field of the word/phrase (title, author, subject, etc.) and whether you want the results to contain your word/phrase or start with it. The Advanced Search also has some of the search limiters available in the search results, like material type, language, and publication range.

Limit your search results

When your search results appear, you can narrow your search by selecting filters that specify what you’re looking for. You can select only things that are available online, things available on the shelf, or only peer-reviewed journals. You can select the library a physical item is held at, the resource type (material type, like article or book), or the publication range. You can also narrow down the subject or genre.

Try using new keywords and different wording

To find more results, think of other topics or areas related to your research. For example, if your topic is higher education, you might also try searching for things like college, university, professor, or graduate school.

Find more search terms by thinking of synonyms or similar terms. If your topic and key phrase is climate change, try other keywords like global warming, greenhouse gas, pollution, or carbon emissions. You can use a thesaurus to find synonyms.