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ENGL 01A Baker: Welcome

College Composition and Reading

About this Guide

Thanks for completing the Canvas module, which included the following tutorials:

  • Virtual Library Orientation
  • Finding & Selecting Databases Provided by EBSCOhost
  • Recognizing Popular, Trade, & Scholarly Articles
  • Using Basic Search Strategies
  • Using Academic Search Complete

This class guide includes quick access to the databases provided by EBSCOhost, video tutorials, a review of search strategies, MLA citation resources, and a quick way to get in touch with faculty librarians.

Cheat Sheet for Launching Your Search for Information

  1. Start on the library website.
  2. Click on Databases link, which will take you to the A-Z database list.
  3. Click on the EBSCOhost Web (All Databases) link from the A-Z database list to find the list of databases provided by the EBSCOhost brand.
  4. When prompted, log in with your Portal username and password. This is the same log in information you use for Canvas.
  5. Based on the database descriptions, decide which databases seem most relevant to your topic and check mark them to select them.
    • Use at least 2-3 databases.
  6. Use 2-4 terms at a time in your searches.
    • Databases will look for your terms in the summaries of articles (PDF) (or in the whole article if the HTML is also available)
      • What kinds of terms might a researcher use?
      • Consider that you may have to change your research question a bit depending on the information available.
  7. Use search strategies
    • Use quotes around short phrases to force the database to look for the specific phrase vs. individual words.
    • Connect terms with AND & OR as appropriate.
      • Using AND between words tells the database to search for article summaries that include BOTH terms (narrows search).
      • Using OR between words tells the database to search for article summaries that include either this term OR that term (broadens search).
  8. Limits results to full-text, so you can actually download the PDF and/or access the HTML.
  9. Limit results to scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles and/or magazine articles.
  10. Limit results to a specific publication date range if needed.
  11. Email articles to yourself / download to your desktop or a specific folder.
  12. Remember, no citation generator, even from a library database, is perfect. You will need to double-check and correct errors.

Faculty Reference Librarian

Profile Photo
Lindsay Davis
She / her / hers
Contact:
209-386-6086