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POLB81: Introduction to International Relations

Recommended Databases

Search Tips

Use the following tips to improve your search results.   Please note:   These search tips will work across almost all databases.

Example search: I'd like to find articles which discuss the UN and it's legitimacy as an institution of global governance.

Search WorldWide Political Abstracts. Example search: (UN or United Nations) and legitim* and "global governance"

 

Keyword Search Tips

  • Keyword:   Choose the main ideas from your topic e.g. UN legitimacy, global governance
  • AND:   Use AND to focus your search e.g.UN AND legitimacy AND "global governance"
  • OR:  Use OR to find synonyms/ similar terms e.g.UN or "United Nations"
  •  Truncation*:  Use truncation to expand your search.  e.g. Legitim* will find legitimacy, legitimize etc.
  •  Quotation Marks " ":   Use quotation marks to search an exact phrase e.g. "global governance"

NOTE:   Use limiters (e.g. Source Type, Date, Subject) on the left side of your results to focus your search on relevant articles.  

Too many results?   Too few?

So you've tried search and you got too many results?   Or too few?   (Tip:  100 hits is considered a manageable number of results.)   Try the following tips to improve your search:

  • Too many results? 
    • Add more keywords.   (Examples:    Keywords from your course materials or background reading.   Consider focusing on a specific type group of people, geography or idea or theory you studied in class)
    • Use limiters on the left of your search results. (Examples: peer-review; source type; date; subject)
  • Too few results?:
    •  Use fewer keywords
    • Add synonyms with OR 
    •  Try different keywords
    • Search a different database
    • Use articles you've already found to locate more relevant material.  For example, check References (also called Works Cited), Cited by, and Related Articles.   

Searching FAQ

Here are answers to a few more commonly asked questions about searching

  • Capital letters DON'T matter e.g. Search Canada or canada and you'll ge the same result.
  • Spelling DOES matter. If you spell a word incorrectly, you search won't work.   Tip:   Not sure if you spelled something correct?     Google it to check your spelling.
  • Articles (found in a library database) are NOT necessarily peer-reviewed.    Do you need peer-reviewed articles?    Limit your search to peer-reviewed to focus your results on just peer-reviewed articles.