Key Word Search:
Type one or more words of the title, author or subject. Keyword search results are usually grouped by relevance to bring the most likely titles to the top of the list. Keyword searches are the default in most searches and will return the widest results.
If you aren't sure of how to spell something, use '*' for 1-5 characters, '**' for open-ended truncation, or '?' to replace a single character anywhere within a word. For example: polic*, comput**, wom?n
Author Search:
Use the 'advanced search' feature on the library's homepage or in the database you're working in to select to search by "author" from the drop down menu near the search box. Type all or part of the author's name (last name, first) or the name of an illustrator, producer, or organization. No need to capitalize! For example:
hooks bell
freire paulo
american education research association
Title Search:
Use the 'advanced search' feature on the library's homepage or in the database you're working in to select to search 'title" to find a particular book or article. Type as much or as little of the title as you know, beginning with the first words of the title. If you don't know the exact title, do a keyword search. For example:
raisin sun
harry potter and the
If the work has a very common title or words, I will often do a keyword search with both words from the title and the author's last name.
Searching for Empircal Research
If you know you need a qualitative or quantitative study, an interview or case study, then include the type of research you need in your search string.
