Research is the systematic investigation of sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. Books, periodicals, online databases, the Internet and pamphlets are all possible sources of information.

Keyword Searching

The use of keywords, when searching for a subject on the Internet or in a library catalog, allows you to look for a specific word or word combinations.

• Keywords should represent the major concepts of your research.

• Keywords may be topics, geographic locations, names of companies/organizations, personal names, etc.

• Use Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) to combine search terms. Use AND to narrow a search by combining two or more different concepts. Use OR for alternate concepts or synonyms. Use NOT to exclude words from the search.

• Try several different searches using different keyword combinations.

• Use "quotation marks" around specific phrases (words that go together in a particular order) to eliminate irrelevant results.

• Most Internet search engines have a Search Tips page to help you.

Subject Headings

Subject headings are words that describe the book, journal, article or video. These words are from a controlled vocabulary, that is a standard set of uniform terms used to describe and categorize the contents.

• Subject headings can help you find relevant sources without having to do too many searches.

• When you find a source that is a good fit for the topic, look at the other subject headings assigned to it for more search ideas.

• A thesaurus may be helpful in finding possible subject headings.

Books are often the first place to look for information. Most topics, unless very new or very specialized, are likely to be included in books.

• Look for both general and specific books about the subject.
  
• The catalog tells the general subject of a book. It does not tell what is in each chapter.
  
• Look in the book's table of contents or index to see if your topic is included.
  
• Reference books provide researchers with concentrated information on specific subjects. These books may not be taken out of the Library. A few examples are:
   
  • General Encyclopedias. These books provide an introduction and overview of many topics.
  • Specialized Encyclopedias. The Encyclopedia of Sociology, for example, contains detailed articles on specific subjects in the field of Sociology.
  • Statistical reference sources. The Statistical Abstract of the United States, for example, will provide the numbers that may be needed to prove a point in your paper.
  
  

  LPL Tip: Encyclopedia of Sociology can be found as REF 301.03 Encyclopedia V.1-V.5, in our collection. Statistical Abstract of the United States can be found as RREF 317.3 Statistical [year], in our collection. Nonfiction books with a "J" in front of the call number are located on the first floor of the library in our juvenile collection. The nonfiction is on the second floor in the adult collection.

Periodicals are publications issued daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly and include newspapers, magazines, and journals.

• A periodical index is used to find articles by subject, author and sometimes article or periodical title.
  
• The periodicals indexed in electronic databases focus mainly on current events and issues.

• Older Cleveland Plain Dealer articles from 1983 - 1999 are indexed in the Cleveland News Index. This citation index does not include full text. The full text of these articles is available on microfilm. Newer articles and articles from other newspapers are included in the online databases discussed below.

Databases

Magazines, journals and newspapers are frequently indexed in online databases. Sometimes the full text of the article is available online also. These databases are made available by subscription. Below are a few of the subscription databases available to you.

Biographies Plus Illustrated
A  H. W. Wilson collection of over 95,000 biographies plus thousands of biographical magazine articles and printable images.

EBSCOhost Databases
EBSCOhost is home to several databases: MasterFILE Premier, Business Source Elite, Newspaper Source, Health Source Plus, Primary Search, and Middle Search Plus.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
Includes all of the text of the print copy, plus thousands of additional articles, digital images, Internet links, and more.

Access Science
Thousands of articles from The McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology.

• Pamphlets are paper documents that are smaller than books.
  
• Pamphlets are prepared by societies, government agencies or organizations rather than by single authors.
  
• Pamphlets may contain brief facts and statistics on a topic.

Pamphlets at Lakewood Public Library are arranged alphabetically by subject.

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