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Summer 2010 Seminar in Reading

What you'd like to know most about the library, research and writing your seminar paper.

"How do I find the most RELEVANT articles?"

OR..."How do I keep from wasting time looking through ones that aren't as useful?"

 

Reading widely, and the occasional wrong turn, are parts of the research process, so you should plan accordingly.  However, there are several things you can do to help you get more focused results:

  1. Think about the words you use to search with.  Write down your keywords.  Brainstorm synonyms.  When you do a search, look closely for better keywords in the results of your search.
  2. Look for articles that are more lengthy, or that are research studies.  For example, ERIC allows you to limit to RESEARCH REPORTS 
  3. Use Date and "peer-reviewed" limits whenever possible
  4. Narrow your search with AND (example: Reading AND motivation)
  5. Read the Abstracts and the Subject Headings.  Abstracts are more than a summary: they are the article in miniature.  Subject headings describe what the article is really about--they aren't just words you find in the article!
  6. Use the Thesaurus to discover the best keywords.

"How can I save my searches and see them later from home?"

ERIC, EDUCATION RESEARCH COMPLETE, EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION ABSTRACTS and the other EBSCO databases have a system called MYEBSCO.  With MYEBSCO, you can

  • save articles and abstracts to a personal folder
  • save searches -- or your whole search history!
  • organize articles into folders
  • Share folders with friends!

To get a MYEBSCO account:

  • Log into any EBSCO database
  • Click SIGN IN on the Blue Toolbar
  • Click "I'm a New User" and complete the form.  That's it!

TIP: once you start saving articles, searches and citations, avoid using the browser's BACK button.  Use the Navigation tools on the screen: Revise Search, Return to Results, etc. 

 

Learn how to save and retrieve searches

Learn how to share your MYEBSCO folders

Get to Work!