In this video, you will learn what a database is (vs. a website or search engine), and how to evaluate which database may be best suited for your own research.
Length: 1:23
In this video, you will learn what is especially valuable about library resources, versus what you can find for free on the internet.
Length: 1:40
In this video, you will learn how to create and use keywords based on your research topic to search in an academic database.
Length: 1:28
To develop keywords for searching in a database, start with your research question.
If your research question is “What is the impact of hiring discrimination on the earning potential of black women?”, identify the key topics.
"What is the impact of hiring discrimination on the earning potential of black women?"
Now, instead of typing in your whole question, you can search a database for "hiring discrimination" AND "earning potential" AND "black women." This filters out the clutter and focuses the database on giving you relevant search results.
It also helps to identify synonyms for your keywords to broaden or narrow your search results. See the example below:
