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3.4 Advanced Searching of the Library Catalogue

Chapter 3.1 recommended searching the library catalogue’s advanced search, in order to find an entire book or standalone resource on a topic, e.g. autism. The following two images will show how the same search can be constructed in different ways based on the research question concepts and keywords. The Symbole Information symbol in the images below will provide information about the search. Try reproducing the two searches shown below using the Advanced Search the Library database.

Advanced Library Search 1

acquisition OR learning
AND
autis*
AND
language

Advanced Library Search 2

autis* OR “pervasive developmental disorder” OR asperger
AND
language OR linguistic OR bilingu*

Exercises

  1. Replicate one of the searches above and change the fields searched to see the impact the change has on search results. For example, in Advanced Library Search 1, the first concept terms Acquisition OR Learning are searched broadly within Any Field. What happens to the search results if you change Any Field to Subject?
  2. Add a concept for competency OR proficiency to the second advanced search. Hint: remember to use truncation symbols strategically to increase results (e.g. autis*).
    1. If you need a refresher on truncation symbols and other search operators, please review the Designing a Search Strategy module in the Library’s Research Skills modules available in Canvas upon enrollment. See the How to Research guide for more information.

Library Catalog Search Tips:

  • Use quotation marks to search as a phrase.
  • Use * to truncate or shorten a search term to include all variant forms of the term. Use Truncation when there are multiple spellings and various endings of search terms.
  • Use “OR”, “AND”, and “NOT” (uppercase, no quotation marks) to create Boolean logic within a field. You can use parentheses in your complex expressions.
  • For more tips in searching the library catalog, please see the Research Skills modules in Canvas.

The next chapter will present a similar search using the same research question concepts in an article database.

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Educational Psychology Library Lab Manual Copyright © 2020 by Denis Lacroix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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