Here is A Quick Guide to Researching Useful Information for Essays and Homework:
1. List key words with which you will search:
• five words or phrases that describe your topic perfectly and simply—how would someone “file” it.
• three words or phrases that “limit” that word or distinguish it from others
example: if I want to know about what makes children in a country sick, I would say: infants, children, illness, sickness—to limit it, I might say: U.S.A. or Africa, most common, etc.
You should use several combinations of these terms to search for your topic.
In your case, try Socrates.
2. Head to an academic library, whether electronic version or in person. Libraries pay for access to information that you cannot easily find just out there. Plus, librarians are trained to help you. If you cannot do that, proceed to #3
3. Use search engines that are geared to find you more academic sources.
• http://www.academicinfo.us/ — you must click on the topic area and then keep clicking into more specific areas related to your topic.
• http://infomine.ucr.edu/–you click on the topic area and then search with one or two of your key words
• http://lii.org/ - you search with key words and Boolean operators
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez this is highly technical medical stuff (if you use this, be sure to click on the “limits” tab, then check “free full text” and “review” as the type of publication.)
4. If you cannot do that, use google.com, but don’t just search randomly.
a. First, try entering your key terms and add one of the following: “.org”, “.edu,” “article”. Search three times using all of these terms. This will take you to organizations, educational sites, and articles on the topic.
b. Or, Click on the little “advanced search” next to the Google search box on google..com
• Choose “100 results” to the right
• Enter your combinations of terms and terms you want to exclude
Be sure to evaluate the source, using this guide: http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhe…
For more information on searching for information check out this site: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingL…
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