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How to Create a RESEARCH Plan
RESEARCH TIPS
Search Helps
- Search using both singular and plural words.
- Search using words and/or phrases.
- Search using the Browse command.
- Search on multiple keywords using the Boolean Operators.
Key Words
- Key words are important words in a topic or sentence.
- They are chosen by you and may or may not match words in the
databases you search.
Subject Headings
- Subject headings are chosen by librarians and indexers from a specific
list of subject headings.
- You must match these subject headings exactly if you want to find all of
the resources under that subject heading.
Title Search
- When searching for titles, omit the words "a, an, and
the." Most databases don't search on these words.
- Use the title search when you know the exact title; use the keyword search
if you are not sure.
Author Search
- Most databases list the author by last name, then
first name.
- If you put in the first name first, you may or may not get books by the
author.
- Use last name first when searching for a biography.
- Kings, queens, chiefs, emperors, conquerors and rulers use first names:
e.g. Philip II, King of Spain; Cleopatra; Sitting Bull; Alexander.
General Terms
Subject headings are directed at the most specific subject that material is
about. You may find information about specific subjects in a general book
by using the index. For example, you will find material on the subject of
all native American peoples by using general terms.
- Native Americans
- Indians of North America
- First People
- American Indians
More Specific Terms
Subject headings for specific materials may not include the general
terms. For example, the more general topics above can be broken into
more specific subject headings below.
- Names of Indian Nations: e.g. Iroquois Federation
- Names by geographic area: e.g. Indians of North America—Eastern
Woodlands; Indians of North America--Great Basin.
- Names of Tribes: e.g. Sioux, Comanche, Hopi, Navajo, Powhatan
- Names of chiefs or other notable people: e.g. Pocahontas, Geronimo, Maria
Tallchief, Hiawatha
- Names of events in history: e.g. Battle of Little Bighorn, Lewis and Clark
Expedition; Black Hawk War
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