LibGuides: English 101S: Research Help

Research in English 101S

In English 101S, you will need to do some research. Use the resources on this page to help get you started. If you find that you need further help narrowing down your paper topic, searching a database, finding relevent sources, or citing sources, feel free to stop by the library to speak with a librarian.

Library Databases for Background Information

Britannica Encyclopedia Online This link opens in a new window
Britannica Online is one of the most comprehensive and authoritative information databases on the internet. It is continually updated to provide the most current information possible.
Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
Access thousands of encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference volumes online by subject. You can also search within the various volumes available in this database.

Library Databases for Research

ABI Inform This link opens in a new window
A Business Database- Search business related newspapers, magazines, journals and newspapers.
Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
A general use database, Academic Search Premier has a lot of academic and non-academic journals and magazines to search from. This is a great starting place for sources.
Business Source Premier This link opens in a new window
Business Source® Premier, the industry's most popular business research database, features the full text for more than 2,150 journals. Full text is provided back to 1886, and searchable cited references back to 1998. Additional full text, non-journal content includes market research reports, industry reports, country reports, company profiles and SWOT analyses.
ERIC This link opens in a new window
ERIC or Education Resource Information Center is a database that focuses on educational issues.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Scholarly resources on JSTOR include Archival and Current Journals, Books, and Primary Sources.
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Opposing Viewpoints presents different views of an issue. Topics that have been in the news a lot recently will often have a topics page that represents the various viewpoints on the issue. This is a great database if you are struggling to find a second or third viewpoint for your topic.
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive database covering information concerning topics in emotional and behavioral characteristics, psychiatry & psychology, mental processes, anthropology, and observational & experimental methods.
Research Library This link opens in a new window
This is a general database that will have lots of information from lots of different disciplines.
Science Direct This link opens in a new window
Find articles from over 2,500 journals and more than 33,000 book titles on ScienceDirect.

Boolean Operators: Ways to Connect Keywords

Boolean Operators are AND, OR, and NOT.

AND will limit your search. The search results will bring back only results with BOTH keywords in them. Use this operator to connect multiple concepts.

OR will broaden your search. The search results will have either one term or the other or both. This is helpful when there are more than one way to say a keyword.

NOT will eliminate a term from your search. Use the operator NOT to eliminiate irrelevant topics from search results that keep appearing. These could be topics that often appear with your keywords, but are not related to your topic.

For more tips on searching databases, check out these tips!

Keyword Searches

Remember that great searches do the following:

Use nouns (person, place, or thing)
Focus on key concepts
Include only the core words, and not the whole question (not "when was George Washington born?" but rather "George Washington birth date")
Do NOT include the terms: "an," "the," "on," or "in"
Do NOT assume an opinion or bias