Your name:__________________________
Keyword Searching
Before we begin searching library resources, we must learn how to break a research question down
into KEYWORDS (the most important concepts in a research question.) While we can put an entire
sentence into Google and Google will “ignore” all of the unimportant words, a catalog or database
will only give you results if every word entered is found in a document.
Also, if we want a database or catalog to only give us results with a certain phrase (like global
warming) we must put the phrase in quotes. While the search global warming (no quotes) will
give us results with the words global and warming spread throughout a document, the search
“global warming” will give us only results where global and warming are next to each other.
Finally, we need to separate all our search terms with the word AND. Let’s look at two examples.
INSTEAD OF TYPING: What is the significance of play in child development?
TRY SEARCHING: play and “child development”
INSTEAD OF TYPING: What impact does working have on the grades of college students?
TRY SEARCHING: working and grades and “college students”
employment and GPA and “college students”
jobs and “academic performance” and undergraduates
Tip: Try many different combinations of words and synonyms to get the best results.
Tip: When you find a relevant article, skim it for synonyms you can use in your research.
Let’s practice breaking down a research question into keywords.
Sample research question:
How do the media affect the body image of teenagers?
Write 3 keywords we could use to search for this topic (remember to put quotes around phrases):
___________________________ and ______________________________ and ________________________________
Are there other keywords or synonyms we could use to research this question?
____________________________ and ________________________________ and _______________________________
Using Library Catalogs to Find Books

An online library catalog (sometimes called an OPAC) stores a catalog record for every
item a library owns. We can search a catalog by title, author, or, subject, or keyword.

A catalog record for a book will contain things like: the title, author, publication
information, and call number.
WHAT’S A CALL NUMBER?
A call number is like the “address” of a
book in the library. It’s the group of letters
and numbers on the spine of a book that
allow us to find an item on the shelf.
The letters and numbers of the call number
group books together by subject area. While
public libraries use the Dewey Decimal
system, most college libraries are organized
by Library of Congress classification. Call
numbers in LC classification look like this:
Let’s practice using the Bridgewater State College Library catalog.
1) From www.baystate.edu/library, click on the “Middleborough & Online students” link.
2) Click on the Bridgewater Maxwell library link (in orange).
You could also go to http://www.bridgew.edu/library/
3) Search for the book with the title Zombie Economics.
4) Scroll down--what is the call number for this title? ____________________________________
5) Go back to the Maxwell Library homepage.
6) Let’s look for books about eating disorders. Make sure the drop down search box says keyword.
Type “eating disorders” then click “Go.”
7) On the right-hand side, click on add limit: books.
8) Write the title for a RELEVANT book on this topic. ___________________________________
TIP: When you find a useful book using a keyword search, you can then click on a book’s SUBJECT
HEADINGS to find even more relevant books on a topic!
Using Library Databases to Find Articles

What is a library database?
o Library databases contain huge numbers of digitized articles from magazines,
newspapers, and most importantly, scholarly journals.

Why should we use library databases when we can just use Google Scholar or
Google?
o Because not everything is free online—If you only use Google, you will find
that many articles require paying a fee before you can read the full-text (you
will often only be able to read the abstract, or summary, of the article).
Libraries pay a lot of money so that students can access these journal articles
through the databases.
o Because there is a lot of “junk” out on the web—online, anyone can publish
anything! In contrast, the articles you find in online databases were edited
before being published. Scholarly journal articles are also PEER-REVIEWED
which means they were read by other experts in the field before publication.

Why do we have to search more than one database for articles?
o Because many of these databases specialize in one specific subject area, like
medicine, for example. And even “general” databases can cover different
sets of magazines, journals, and newspapers.
o If you are not sure which one to use, look at the descriptions below each
database on the Find Articles page at www.baystate.edu/library. There are
also links to tutorials on each database below each database name.

Why am I not able to log into the BSC databases?
o Are you clicking the link that says “Click this link to access these databases
off-campus” from the Find Articles page?
o Are you logging in with your FULL BSC email address and email password?
o Contact library@baystate.edu using your BSC EMAIL address if you are still
having problems logging in.
YOUR TURN! PRACTICE USING THE DATABASES!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Go to www.baystate.edu/Library
Click on “Find Articles”
Click the “Off-campus Library Access” link under “Find Articles”
Log in with your FULL Bay State email address and password
A menu of databases will appear
For each database:
 If there is the option, it is a good idea to check off “peer-reviewed” or “scholarly
journals” to only get results from journals (and exclude “popular” sources like
magazines and newspapers)
 If there is the option, it is a good idea to check off “full-text” if you want only
articles you can read in full-text (and not abstracts, or summaries of articles)
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2)
3)
4)

PROQUEST: a good place to search for most research topics
Check off the FULL TEXT and PEER-REVIEWED check boxes
Do a search for “body image” and “physical fitness”
Click on an article, then click “Cite” (located in the light blue bar near top)
Write the full MLA citation for this article in the space below:
CQ Researcher: a good source for in-depth reports on issues in the news
1) Using the quick search, search for cyberbullying
2) Click on the most relevant article. Click CiteNow! located in the blue bar at top
3) Write the full MLA citation below:

EBSCOhost Nursing & Allied Health Databases: the medical databases include CINAHL,
Health Source Nursing/Academic, Dynamed, and Nursing Reference Center.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Click on CINAHL Plus Full Text
Search for “seasonal affective disorder”
On the left-hand side, click Full Text. Enter 2008 as start date. Click update.
On the left-hand side, click Academic Journals. Click update.
Click on the full text of any article.
On the right-hand side, click on the fourth icon down (it says “cite” when you hover over
it).
7) Write the full MLA citation below:

LEXIS NEXIS: look here for legal, business and news articles
1)
2)
3)
4)
Go to “Get company info”
Search for Apple, Inc.
Click on APPLE INC. This will bring you to the company snapshot.
Click on Competitors on left hand side, and write three of them below:
______________________________________________________
Remember, plagiarism is a serious offense!
If you use someone’s thoughts, words,
ideas or images, you must give credit.
For citation information and tools, visit
http://www.baystate.edu/library/citeyour-sources