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Master: Strategic Communication

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New to searching in a library database? Here are a few basic tips to get you started.

  • Searching a library database is different than searching Google. You don't want to type in "Peggy vs. Joan - two types of feminism in Mad Men"
  • Instead, break down those concepts and maybe think about some broader or narrower aspects of your topic:
    • Mad Men
    • Peggy Olson
    • Joan Holloway
    • feminism
    • working women
    • television program
    • pop culture
  • Then, use the Advanced Search option in the database to put the desired term in its own box (or link the terms with AND). Either option streamlines your search and helps the database know what you need! You don't need to always search with all your keywords--two to three usually works great (e.g., Mad Men AND feminism).
  • Have a concept, story title, etc., that is more than one word? Use quotation marks to search them together, like "Mad Men."
  • Are keywords not working? See the Keywords tab above for more help.

More useful database tips from the University of Illinois library can be found here.

Discovering the right combination of keywords for your research topic takes time. It's a process. You may use one group of words first and then try another group of related words or phrases all in the search process to find the right combination that fits your topic direction.

If you need more help coming up with keywords, try thesaurus.com for other suggestions!

The foundational search methods described below can be applied as you need them to narrow your topic, hone in on specific content, or identify related terms and relationships. They can be applied in the library Discovery search, databases, Google Scholar, or general search engines. 

Keywords

Discovering the right combination of keywords for your research topic takes time. It's a process. You may use one group of words first and then try another group of related words or phrases, all in the search process to find the right combination that fits your topic direction. Below, you'll see suggestions to maximize keyword searching. 

Use Boolean to focus your search

Including one of the Boolean terms in your search helps narrow or broaden results. The 'Not' eliminates terms from search results.

 

Using Punctuation to Change Results

Truncation means adding a symbol to a word that will change your results. Most database help pages list the truncation symbols that can be applied to a search. These are common symbols in use: 

  • The plus sign (+) at the end of the word retrieves the plural and singular forms of the word. 
  • The asterisk (*) at the end of a word will include variant endings of the word in your search results. e.g., swim* would include swim, swims, swimmer, swimming, etc.
  • Placing quotation (") marks around two words or more indicates the words should be searched as a phrase, with the words next to each other, not separate.

Subject Headings 

Review the subject headings found in relevant articles from library databases. Subject headings are official terms that are usually clickable from the result list or the full record seen after you click on the source's title. Using these to guide your search helps to focus the results.  

Applying Filters

Filters are found in Discovery search, library databases, and search engines. They are ways you can narrow down or focus your search results on retrieving the most relevant resources. 

 

Date Range

You may want to limit the search results you're seeing based on when they were published. For example, evidence-based medicine often involves looking at research from the last five years, while a project taking a historical perspective will want to include work going further back in time.

Language

Consider limiting your search results to just those published in languages that you can read research in. (Note: your professor/advisor may have additional language restrictions, so if you include research in multiple languages, make sure that works for them, too.)

Source Type

Literature reviews usually rely rather narrowly on various scholarly or academic sources rather than the full spectrum of sources available to you. Consider limiting your results to Academic or Scholarly articles.

Article Type

Sometimes, you need a systematic review, empirical study, or another form of research. Subject-specific databases will almost always offer a way to narrow down your results by methodology (article type). When the filter isn't available, you can add your method of choice as an additional keyword!

Search Alerts 

Search alerts can save valuable research time and can be set up to provide automatic e-mail notifications whenever new search results become available. You can also retrieve those alerts to perform the search immediately instead of waiting for the alert to run. 

Databases: 

You must create a free account in the database to save your customized search alert that will automatically run based on your set parameters.  

Primary databases related to various aspects of the field of strategic communication. Click the title to load the database. You may need to authenticate with your Trevecca credentials for it to open. 

Below are some peer-reviewed journals with content relevant to the study of strategic communication

See the guide below on how to access current news sources.

A great place to start your search for journal articles is in Discovery, the library catalog. Discovery can be accessed using the search box on the library homepage.

Watch the brief video below to learn more about how to locate articles in Discovery. (4:24)