Skip to Main Content
Research Guides Databases A-Z Library Catalog Ask a Librarian Library Home Page SUNY New Paltz

ENG493 The Gothic (Mayer)

This guide provides resources and information to assist with the research paper for Professor Mayer's ENG493 course.

Why have a search strategy?

Before you search in a database, you need to think about your search strategy. Library databases work differently than Google. You cannot type full sentences into a Library database like you can with Google because Library's categorize information by subjects and keywords.  

Here are some search strategies that can make finding information a little bit easier.

General Searching Advice

  1. Brainstorm keywords and subject terms before you search. Keywords and subject terms are used to categorize information within a database. Sometimes the words we use to describe something is not what the database uses. Think about all the different ways to say the same thing. For example - culture, customs, lifestyles, traditions, habits, values, heritage.

  2. Know where to search to find the information you are looking for! We have 100+ databases and a whole book/ebook catalog. Ask yourself these two questions: What type of information are you looking for and what subject does your topic fall under. If you need to find a biography of Toni Morrison then you can look in one of the Reference databases. If you need to find a scholarly article on how illness is perceived in Victorian literature then you can look in one of our English databases.

  3. Start broad when you first search and then be more specific once you see what results you get. The more complex your search is (multiple keywords and using advanced search strategies) the fewer results you will get. Try “Elizabeth Gaskell” before moving to “North and South" AND industrialization.

  4. Use the advanced search option or the limiters/refiners built into databases. These are usually located around the perimeter of the database. You can limit by date, source type, and subject. 

  5. Databases contain resources from specific publications. You will likely need to search in multiple databases to cover all your bases. Below are links to all the English databases but you may also need to search in History. 

    1. If searching in an EBSCO database (like the MLA International Bibliography database), you can search multiple EBSCO databases at one time! Click the “Choose Databases” hyperlink above the search bars to add additional databases. You can read database descriptions by clicking the greater than sign (>) next to the database titles.

  6. If you locate a source that you find useful, check the keywords and subject terms listed on the description page within the database or catalog. You can incorporate these keywords and subject terms into your search strategy. You can also look at what sources the article cites and find those in our databases. 

  7. If you see a “find full text” or “find it at New Paltz” button while searching for resources, click it! That button automatically searches our other databases to see if it is somewhere else. 

  8. If you find a source we do not have, send English Liaison Librarian Chrissy O’Grady (ogradyc@newpaltz.edu) an email to see if we have access somewhere else or how to submit an Interlibrary Loan request.

Choosing Keywords

Searching for Multiple Concepts

Library databases use three words (Boolean Operators) to help you find relevant information: AND, OR, NOT. These three words are usually capitalized so that the database can recognize them. 

  • AND is used to find information about two or more concepts. Using AND can reduce your search results because the database is looking for resources with those words in the same source.
    • Example: W. B. Yeats AND love
  • OR is used to find information about things that are synonyms. Using OR broadens your search results so you have more options.
    • Example: love OR romance
  • NOT is used to find information that does not include a specific thing. Using NOT can reduce your search results because the database is looking for resources that uses one word but not the other. 
    • Example: romance NOT friendship

Advanced Strategies

There are additional search tools you can use in addition to Boolean Operators AND/OR/NOT. 

  • "Quotation" makes are used for exact phrase searching.
    • Example: "social class"
  • *Asterisk (also known as truncation) is a way to search for a root word with different endings.
    • Example: manner* for manner, manners, mannerism, mannerisms 
  • (Parentheses) is used to tell the database which Boolean Operators to search for first in your search string.
    • Example: Austen, Jane AND ("social class" OR "social distinction")
  • ? Question Mark (also known as wildcard) is used to replace a letter in a keyword that varies based on spelling.
    • Exampled: colo?r for color or colour. 
Subjects: English