Find Information at Bowman
Research Sources
Reference resources can help you get an overview of a topic. They also give you an idea of key terms associated with a topic that can help you with further searching.
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Provides original, comprehensive reporting and analysis on current events, including summaries and bibliographies. Controversial topics are addressed in a balanced, unbiased manner in the Congressional Quarterly tradition.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text reference books in 20 subject areas. It includes over 180 titles and 65,000 images "powered by a network of cross-references that cut across topics, titles and publishers to provide answers - and new connections - in context." coverage: Varies
- Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive dictionary that also traces the development of English words from approximately 1150 AD up to the present day. Click on "Simple search" in the lower left corner of the database page to be able to search for words in the definitions, quotations, and more.
- Statista This link opens in a new window
One of the world's largest statistics portals with data from over 18,000 sources. Provides access to 1 million statistics. Also contains information on industries, countries, digital markets, and other topics, as well as infographics.
- EBSCOhost (includes several component databases) This link opens in a new windowProvides online access to an extensive collection of databases, including Academic Search Premier, Business Source Complete, Newspaper Source, Alt HealthWatch, Health Source, and APA PsycArticles/PsycInfo. Offers the ability to search any and all of these at the same time. Sources include scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, reports, and more.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowProvides access to scholarly literature "across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations." Note that many articles contain only the citation and no full text; if full text is not available, you can order articles or books via Interlibrary Loan.
- Statista This link opens in a new windowOne of the world's largest statistics portals with data from over 18,000 sources. Provides access to 1 million statistics. Also contains information on industries, countries, digital markets, and other topics, as well as infographics.
- New York Times (NYTimes.com) This link opens in a new window
Activate your subscription from one of the links below and make sure you use the off campus activation link if you are off campus and the on campus activation link if you are on campus. After creating your account, you can log on to the New York Times site directly using your Menlo e-mail and the password you have set up. iPhone, iPad, and Android apps are available with your login. The Menlo Community has full-text access to the New York Times from 1851 to the present. For the years 1923-1980 there is a limit of 5 articles per day per user. Passes do not include e-reader editions, Times Premier content or New York Times Games, New York Times Cooking or The Athletic.
- Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition) This link opens in a new windowAccess the Eastern Edition of the Wall Street Journal through ABI/Inform. Use the search option to search for articles or browse by issue. Coverage from 1984-present.
Another place to search for needed information is simply to 'Google it.' Again, it is important to think about what results you are finding: Who is the author or sponsor, why is the information being published? Is there obvious bias? How authoritative is the soure you find?
Google gives you so many results it is difficult to know which ones are useful or reliable. Articles rise to the top of a search based on the number of times they are clicked on; this might not be the best way to choose what will be most important for your search.
But,Google allows several ways for you to target your results. If you implement some of the following techniques, you will find that you can leverage the power of Google to help you find solid results for your project. Try out some of the tips below.
Get the most out of your Google search
Searching in Google can also help you uncover relevant articles for your research. The problem is, how to find results that will be helpful?
SITE Searching
One way to target results in Google is to employ the site search. This requires you use a specific phrase before adding search terms to tell Google you only want results from a specific website or domain. The search always begins with site + colon + URL or Domain all without any spaces; next, add a space and insert your search terms. See the examples below -
- site:nytimes.com 'artificial intelligence' OR AI This search phrase tells Google that you'd like results from the New York Times website that mention artificial intelligence as a phrase, or that mention AI. **This is one of the best ways to search for articles on a given topic in the New York Times** Notice that we put artificial intelligence in quotes, to ensure that Google looks for the phrase, not the individual words.
- site:gov hydroponic agriculture This search phrase tells Google you'd like to see articles, reports, etc., from government websites that include information about hydroponic agriculture. You could add more terms, if you wanted to narrow or target the search still further.
- site:edu 'free speech' movement This search phrase tells Google to retrieve articles published by or in educational institutions about the free speech movement. Note: The phrase 'free speech' is put in quotes to make sure that the articles retrieved include that phrase.
Other search tips in Google
- Limit the date of your results by inserting the phrase after + colon + year or date without any spaces
- after:2016 Hate speech regulations college campuses This phrase tells Google that you'd like all your results to have been published after 2016 (note: the after phrase can come before or after your search terms)
- You can also limit your results to a given date range by clicking on Tools under the search bar, and then Any Time under that.
- Search for an exact phrase by putting your terms in quotes when entering them in the search bar, e.g., "hate speech" -- using the quotes will ensure you retrieve results with that exact phrase.
Today's Assignment
Open this worksheet, make a copy to save to your computer. Please send it to your professor at the end today's session.