HIST 300: Search Strategy

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HIST 300 Search Strategy

• Tamara Smith, Reference Librarian
• Langsdale Library
• tsmith_at_ubalt.edu
• 410-837-5072

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Plan for Today

• Whats New at Langsdale
• Search Strategy
• Activity Learn a Database
• Getting Articles
• Wrap-up
• Whats Next

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Whats New at Langsdale?

• Reference Desk Collection on 1st Floor
• All journals on 2nd Floor (still need call )
• Stacks on 3rd Floor only
• Special Collections all on 4th Floor
• Expanded chat/IM hours
• Slingbox players view DVDs from home
• Toll-free help (outside Maryland)
  1-888-LANGREF (526-4733)

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Search Strategy
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Search Strategy

• Broad Topic
• integration

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Search Strategy

• Narrower Topic
• integration and education

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Search Strategy

• Research Question
• Has integration resulted in a better education
  for black children?

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Keywords
integration education black children




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Synonyms
integration education black children
Desegregation Learning Colored child
Segregation Teaching Negro youth
Busing Afro-American student
African-American
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Boolean Operators

• Named for George Boole, a 19th century English
  mathematician
• AND joins concepts/ideas together (both/all)
• OR combines synonyms or related terms
  (either/any)

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Combining Keywords
Integration AND Education
Integration AND Education AND Child
Desegregation AND Black AND Student
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Combining Keywords

• Nesting combine like terms in parentheses used
  to combine synonyms
• Truncation () special symbol used to represent
  missing letters used in place of retyping an
  entire word

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Combining Keywords
(Integration OR Desegregation) AND (Education OR
Learn) AND (Black OR Negro OR African-American)
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Finding Articles
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Finding Journal Articles

• Subject-Specific Databases
• America History and Life
• Humanities International Complete
• JSTOR (full text access for part of the database)

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Finding Journal Articles

• General Databases
• Academic Search Premier
• Historical Newspapers
• Lexis-Nexis Academic

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Getting to the Full Text

• Do we own it?
• Find It button
• Journal Finder
• If we dont own it, use ILL

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Questions?
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In-Class Exercise Learning a Database
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Wrap-Up

• If your topic is too broad, add another concept
  (AND)
• If your topic is too narrow, add synonyms and
  related terms (OR)
• Different databases different results (try more
  than one)

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Whats Next (Library)

• Week of 9/24 Maps Citation
• Week of 10/1 Pratt Library Visit
• Week of 10/8 Search Citation Assignment Due
• Week of 10/22 Print Web Evaluation, Special
  Collections
• Week of 10/29 Portfolio Part I due

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Thank You!

• Reference Help
• Phone [phone]
• E-mail langref_at_ubalt.edu
• IM ublangsdale
• HIST 300 Course Page
• http//langsdale.ubalt.edu/howto/course_websites/f
  a07/hist300_nix.htm