CHOOSING A DATABASE
KEYWORD SEARCHING
ADVANCED KEYWORD SEARCHING
SUBJECT SEARCHING
For help using individual periodical indexes (e.g. Academic Search Premier), please use the Help screens within the database, contact a member of the Reference Staff at 905.721.2000 x2390.
There are a wide variety of periodical databases available. Each year, the Library decides which ones offer the best content to meet the needs of students and faculty. Some periodical databases try to be more general in nature and include periodicals on a wide variety of topics. This means they have fewer journals for a given subject, but cover many subjects (e.g. Academic Search Premier). Other periodical databases cover one subject area in-depth and therefore offer coverage of more journals in that subject area (e.g. Criminal Justice Abstracts).
Often, key journals, magazines and newspapers that you need are NOT all included in the same index. This is why we subscribe to more than one index on the same subject. Therefore, you will need to use more than one index in your research to ensure that you haven't missed a key article.
There are two tools available on the library website to help you select a database for your research topic.
Subject Guides
Alphabetical List of Periodical Indexes and Databases
As an example, let's do some searching to find information for a research paper on the "impact of television on children".
HINT: In a periodical database, searching on a single word or phrase will often retrieve too many results and/or too many irrelevant results.
Use your time more effectively by constructing a "Boolean Search".
Need MORE information?
Broaden or expand your search by searching for synonyms or alternative forms of your keyword. Between each synonym, type the Boolean Operator OR.
HINT:Using OR always retrieves MORE results
HINT: Expand your search even more.
Where appropriate, shorten your search term and use the wildcard symbol, so that you retrieve the singular, plural or other variations of your word.
An example is child*, which would retrieve child, child's, children, and children's.
Common wildcard symbols are *, ?, and $. Check the database's search tips to see which wildcard symbol it uses.
Find too much information?
Narrow or refine your topic by limiting your results to a specific geographical location, group of people, timeframe, etc. Between each word, type the Boolean Operator AND.
HINT:Using AND always retrieves FEWER results
This Venn diagram helps to illustrate our Boolean search strategy.
The circle on the left represents all articles that contain the word tv, television or televisions. The circle on the right represents all articles that contain the word child, children, child's or children's. Our search will retrieve articles that satisfy both conditions (the area where the two circles intersect).
HINT: Be sure to use your Boolean operators correctly!
Many internet search engines assume that there is an "AND" between your search terms. Periodical databases are different. If you do not type AND, the database will assume you are searching for a phrase.
Subject terms are added to articles indexed in periodical databases. They represent the key topics covered in each article using a controlled vocabulary.
HINT: A "controlled vocabulary" is an agreed-upon list of terms for describing things, in this case articles. For example, if an article is about cars, the subject term might be "automobiles" because that is the "preferred" term.
Subject terms can help you refine your search and retrieve more relevant articles. Determine if the index you are using has a subject list. Look for the word thesaurus, descriptor, topic, or subject on the screen.
Selecting the link to these lists will display a list of subject terms.
Click the search button. The index search engine will only retrieve articles that have the word television in the subject field of the citation. Articles that mention the word television, but do not include substantial content about television, will not be retrieved.
HINT:Use Boolean operators (AND, OR) to broaden or narrow your subject searches.