PSY111: Introduction to Psychology  Tags: fall09 psy wraga psychology  

Whether you are searching for books in the Five College Library Catalog, or searching for scholarly articles in a library database, it pays to be organized as you start your search. Break down searching into a three step process.

STEP 1
Write down as much information about your topic as possible. Answer the following questions:

• What is your topic?
• What questions do you have?
• What do you know? What don't you know?

Then, try to summarize what you are looking for in one or two sentences.

EXAMPLE:  What are the long-term effects of cannabis on memory?

STEP 2
Using the information in Step 1, list the main concepts of your topic.

EXAMPLE: memory, cannabis, long-term

STEP 3
Now create a list of synonyms of your key concepts. Think broadly, think narrowly! This step is helping you expand your search by expressing your query in a variety of ways. If you get too many results, then you can work on focusing your search

You will use the word lists you developed in Step 3 to create search strategies. Use "OR" between synonyms and "AND" between concepts. For instance:

(memory OR cogniti*)

AND (cannabis OR marijuana)

AND long-term

Download this worksheet (with bonus search tips!) to help you organize your search strategy.

Have questions?  Contact Rocco Piccinino at x2591, rpiccini@email.smith.edu  or use Ask a Librarian  (live chat).

Contact Josephine Hernandez, jhernand@email.smith.edu or x2885 with your questions.

Or use Ask a Librarian! to live (chat) during Reference Desk hours.