Research Log Example
Date
Task
Tool or Source
Used (i.e., Library
Catalog, Expanded
Academic ASAP,
Environment
Abstracts, etc.
Library Catalog
Concepts or
keywords, terms,
phrases
Search Statements
Results (total # of
results, # of
relevant and useful
results )
Evaluative
comments
9/11/01
Defining research
statement
Environmental
racism,
environmental
justice,
environmental
equity
Environmental
justice, political,
policy, politics
Keyword guided
search:
Environmental
justice
128 total, 20
immedately relevant
and useful
Topic presently too
broad, needs to be
narrowed, perhaps
to focus on political
aspects
9/18/01
Finding books that
library owns
Library Catalog
Keyword guided:
environmental
justice (phrase)
And
policy politic? (any
of these)
Keyword search:
environmental
justice and (policy
or politic*)
36 total, most
relevant
This was a much
more focused and
useful search – got
lots of potentially
good search results
9/21/01
Finding journal
articles (general)
both scholarly and
more geared to a
general audience
Expanded Academic
ASAP
Environmental
justice, political,
policy, politics
171 total, only a few
seem relevant
Keyword search:
environmental
justice and (policy
or politic*) and
grassroots
7 results, all relevant
This search was too
broad – generated
too many results
most of which wer
not useful I need to
focus my topic a bit
more to the
grassroots political
nature of the
environmental
justice movement.
This is frustrating –
too much info!!
Great search --- only
7 results but all
relevant – I think I
can take out the
politics part of my
9/21/01
Finding journal
articles (general)
both scholarly and
more geared to a
general audience
Expanded Academic
ASAP
Environmental
justice, political,
policy, politics,
grassroots
Date
Task
Tool or Source
Used (i.e., Library
Catalog, Expanded
Academic ASAP,
Environment
Abstracts, etc.
Concepts or
keywords, terms,
phrases
Search Statements
Results (total # of
results, # of
relevant and useful
results )
9/21/01
Finding journal
articles (general)
both scholarly and
more geared to a
general audience
Expanded Academic
ASAP
Environmental
justice, grassroots
Keyword search:
environmental
justice and
grassroots
17 results, all
relevant
9/24/01
Finding scholarly
journal articles
(specific to the area
of political science)
Worldwide Political
Science Abstracts
Environmental
justice, grassroots
Keyword:
environmental
justice and
grassroots
6 results, all relevant
Evaluative
comments
search and focus on
environmental
justice and
grassroots to get
even more good
stuff. Yeah!
Even better! I can
see where this is a
process. Now I’m
getting real focused
and useful info. I
love the
interdisciplinariness
of this database.
I’m getting
references to
journals in many
disciplines because
my topic is so
interdisciplinary.
And I love that full
text!
Not too much but a
few interesting
looking references –
I wonder if we have
this stuff in
Bailey/Howe