There are some advanced search techniques, or operators, that can be helpful, and even fun, to use. The way that you utilize them can change from database to database so be sure to look at the advanced search information for each database you use. The ones listed below are some that you can use in EBSCOhost. Click on each link for an explanation for how they work and how to set them up.
Now that you have reviewed the techniques, go to Academic Search Premier in EBSCOhost to practice using them. You can view the video tutorials below to see how the searches look when you build them in EBSCOhost.
You may have an assignment where you are required to have a certain number of primary or secondary sources.
Primary sources are sources that are published in the time you are researching. These sources were present while the event was occurring. If you are researching Women's Right to Vote, finding a newspaper article or book published in that time frame would be considered a primary source.
Secondary sources are sources that are written after an event has occurred or are secondhand accounts. The source may have someone's perspective or analysis of the event. If you find a book that was published in 2002 about Women's Right to Vote, this would be a secondary source since the event is in the past.
When you are selecting materials for research, you will need to be able to determine if the item is a "scholarly" or "popular" title. Scholarly journals contain articles that are written by experts and the articles have gone through a "peer review" process. This means that other experts in the same field have read the article and approved its content. This gives you confidence in the validity and credibility of that article's content.
Popular materials are typically not written by experts and the information within them has not gone through a rigid research process or been compiled using other scholarly research. They are usually more news oriented, opinion pieces, interviews, etc.
The Prezi below will tell you more about Scholarly vs. Popular and what to look for to decide which is which.
Instructions: To make this Prezi work, select the "Start Prezi" in the middle of the screen. Use the arrows to move to the next screen or go back a screen. You may make the Prezi full screen, or zoom in and out with the arrows on the right, or using the scroll button on your mouse.
A great feature to use in EBSCOhost is My EBSCOhost. This is an account you can set up in EBSCO (it is not tied to your college account or logon) that will allow you to save articles to folders, organize those folders, save searches you have built, share articles, etc. It is an easy way to keep track of what you are finding and how you are finding it. The articles will always be available for you to go back to if you create an account and add them to your folders.
Go to EBSCOhost and create an account. To do this, click on Sign In in the blue bar at the top of the page. If you do not already have an account, click on Create a new account. Complete the account set up process to activate your account.
Once your account is set up, you can view your account and the articles you save by clicking on Folder near the top left of the page.
Now that you have an account, I want you to practice setting up a folder. Sign in to your account and scroll down to My Custom. Click New and create a folder or folders for this class. You can name it whatever you want. Here is an example:
The OCCC Library has many other databases that could be useful to you depending on your research. Explore the following databases and perform some practice searches to get a feel for how they behave.
Perfect for an argumentative paper or to learn more about a controversial topic.
Explore WorldCat to find out what other libraries locally and across the world own and to request needed research materials through Interlibrary Loan.
The OCCC Library has several other resources that you might find useful or just fun to use. On the library homepage, explore the links under the Other Resources tab.
This week you will be required to complete another quiz on EBSCOhost and the Health and Wellness annotated bibliography.
For the Health and Wellness Annotated Bibliography, you can explore any topic related to health and wellness. The sources you choose need to be relevant and useful for your chosen topic.
