Sarah SchmidtReference and Government Information Librarian

Keywords, Synonyms, & Interlibrary Loan

@ the library:get access to the info you need that isn’t freely available online

Library resources are free and only for ASU community members, including students!

U-Search searches the full text of SOMEof the electronic information at the library

Let’s say these are ALL the databases the library owns

What’s a database?

• A little electronic library with books, articles, videos, reports, etc – based on a subject like history, math, science, art, music, and so on.

U-Search Searches HALF the databases the library owns… AND

RamCat, the library’s catalog.

RamCat searches the records of every item the library has access to

Your turn!

Let’s work on #1

Advanced Searches: 1. Formulate a research question2. Tinker with the question in the

database

How? Play around with:• Your words• Information type• Subjects tagged on to articles

Formulate a research question

Think about:• What you want to learn from the

project • Your current thesis statement

Formulate a research question

-Why is it bad for athletes to use steroids in the first place?-How widespread an issue is this, anyway?-Should Major League Baseball have better drug testing procedures?-Should the federal government step in?-What other solutions are there?

How to get more targeted results

Tip #1:Use Synonyms

How to get more targeted results Tip #2:Take out the seaweed

How to get more targeted results

Tip #3:Limit by information type

How to get more targeted results

Tip #4:Limit by subject

Subjects

• Are between 1-4 words that describe the main topics associated with a book, article, etc.

• Are an excellent tool for finding more books, articles, etc. on a topic

• You can find subjects…

On an item record

On your list of results

Your turn!

Let’s work on #2, 3, & 4

360 Link

Tells you which other databases have the full-text of an article

Let’s say these are ALL the databases the library owns

U-Search searches HALF the databases the library owns

360 Link will link you to MORE of the databases the library owns

If there’s time at the end…

You could get this page…

Or you could get this page…

Things to keep in mind

Electronic items are sometimes faster and easier to get than hard copies of items

Some libraries only ILL items for short periods of time – so start your research ASAP!

Make sure you request items we don’t own

Your turn!

Complete the worksheet