Social Work Research Planner  Tags: social_work social_work_help social_work_research_help  

If a database search tells you about an article but the full article's not there, don't despair.  Look for the "FindIt" button:

Integrated by the BC Libraries into many databases, "Find It" helps you get the article in one of three ways:

1. If an article cited in one database is available in full text in another online source, there will be a direct link to the full article or, in a few cases, to the journal.


2. If the journal in which an article appeared is available in hard copy in the BC Libraries, there will be a link to Quest, the BC Library Catalog. Click on that link and then on Availability to see where in the libraries you can find the specific issue.


3. If the article is not available electronically or in hard copy at BC, there will be a link to Interlibrary Loan Request, which will bring up a form through which you can request the Libraries to obtain the article for you (usually within 24 hours) from outside BC.

More about FindIt

A Video Introduction to Database Searching

Use the word "AND" to combine your keywords to make your search more specific.
Anytime you combine keywords with "AND" the database will look for article citations that mention both the concepts that your keywords represent. This narrows down your search.

Examples:

• racial disparity AND health care
• substance abuse AND domestic violence

Use synonyms and alternative terms
Different databases, and even different articles, will use different terms for the same basic meaning. Related terms - broader or narrower - will also bring up relevant results.

Examples:

• health care | health services | medical care
• race ethnic | minorities | hispanic
• teenagers | adolescents | youth

Use Truncation
Truncation makes it possible to search for words with common roots without entering them individually. For example, searching for teen* retrieves teen, teens, teenaged, teenagers

• An asterisk (*) is the most common symbol used for truncation, but some databases use a question mark or an exclamation point instead.

Restrict searches to academic, peer-reviewed journals

• Some databases combine academic and non-academic sources. Use checkboxes in CSA and Academic OneFile to restrict your search.

Follow good paths
One good article can lead you to others:

• See what subject terms have been assigned to an article and look for others with those terms.
• Find a list of other articles the authors used in their research
• Look up other, later articles that have used this article as the basis for their research.