Research Success Tutorial – Searching (Module 4)
In this module you are going to learn how to search the various tools for finding information.
By the time you are finished reviewing this information, you will know how to search a library catalogue and a
research database. You will also learn about search engines and subject directories on the Internet.
In the Introduction module, we briefly reviewed various tools you can use to find the information you
need including:
• Library catalogues
• Research databases
• Search engines and subject directories
In this module, we will examine each of these tools more closely and learn how to search them.
In order to decide which search tools you should use and when you should use them, you need to
understand what type of information you are looking for.
To understand this, let's begin by referring to the following sample assignment:
Review recent literature from both newspaper and magazine articles in order to write a 3-5
page paper explaining the relationship between pollution and global warming. All papers
must be accompanied by a bibliography that uses the APA style of citing.
What types of information are we told to use in order to complete this assignment?
Read the beginning of the assignment.
Review recent literature from both newspaper and magazine articles in order to write a 35 page paper explaining the relationship between pollution and global warming. All papers
must be accompanied by a bibliography that uses the APA style of citing.
Keeping this in mind, let's start examining the various tools you can use to search for information.
Library Catalogues
Library catalogues are used to search for the titles and locations of items that are available in your
library. This may include items such as: books, e-books, magazines and non-print media items such as:
CD-ROMs and DVDs.
Records within a library catalogue will provide information about an item including:
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the title
the call number
which campus it is located at
whether the item is available, and its location within the library
Searching the Library Catalogue
1. CONNECT TO THE LIBRARY CATALOGUE
Go to the library website at: http://library.georgebrown.ca, then click on the library catalogue link, found
under Quick Links.
This will connect you to the George Brown College Library Catalogue search screen.
2. SEARCH THE LIBRARY CATALOGUE
Now that you are on the library catalogue search screen, type the following keywords into the search box:
"global warming".
You can also limit your search to a particular library by clicking on the "Library" drop-down box and
selecting the location from the list.
Click the blue Search button.
A screen displaying your results will appear.
3. REVIEW the RESULTS
Scroll down to read through the list of titles (the title of each item is found in the first line of every entry, in
blue and bold letters). For additional publication information, click on the title of any item.
Find a relevant title that is available, and write down the entire call number in order to know where to
retrieve the item within the library.
If the item is an e-book, the title will contain the words [electronic resource]. Click on the chain link icon
at the bottom of the entry in order to retrieve the item online.
To start a new search, click on the link "Search", located in the black menu bar.
Online Research Databases
Think of an online research database as a filing system. When searching a physical filing system, time must
be taken to search through various cabinets and files to find the desired information. However, an electronic
database enables you to find, filter, and select data within seconds. An electronic database is a collection of
information organized in such a way that a computer program can quickly select and retrieve desired pieces of
data.
You use these databases to search for articles from all kinds of periodicals such as: magazines, journals and
newspapers.
Some research databases will only include certain pieces of information from an article such as the title,
publication information and abstract.
However, many research databases include the entire magazine, journal or newspaper article.
Hint: When an entire article is included in a research database, it is referred to
as "Full text".
Searching a Database - Search for a Magazine Article
1. CONNECT TO ACADEMIC SEARCH PREMIER
Go to the library website at: http://library.georgebrown.ca, then click on the link Databases A-Z located
in the dark blue box.
This will bring you to an alphabetical listing of research databases. Find Academic Search Premier in the
list and click on it.
This will connect you to the Academic Search Premier search screen.
2. SEARCH ACADEMIC SEARCH PREMIER
Type the following into the search box: (global warming or climate change) and pollution. Under the
heading “Limit your results”, click the box beside “Full text.” This will limit your search results to articles
that are available in full text. Click the green search button located to the right of the search boxes.
A screen displaying a list of results from your search will appear.
3. REVIEW the RESULTS
On the left side of the screen under Source Types, click on the box next to “Magazines" to limit the results
to magazine articles. Click the “update” button.
The titles of the articles from your search are located in the first line of each entry, in blue. These are links
to more information on the article. Scroll down the page and review the list of titles.
Find an article that interests you, then click either the link PDF Full Text or HTML Full Text found under
the title and publication information.
4. REVIEW AND PRINT YOUR ARTICLE
After reviewing this article, if you want to go back to your results list, click the link Result List located
above the article. To start a new search, click on the link New Search located in the top left corner of the
browser window.
To print an article, click the link Print, or the printer icon, while reviewing the full text article. You can also
Email or Save the article by choosing from the list of options located to the right of the article window.
Searching a Database - Search for a Newspaper Article
1. CONNECT TO CANADIAN NEWSSTAND
Go to the library website at: http://library.georgebrown.ca, then click on the link Databases A-Z located
in the dark blue box.
This will bring you to an alphabetical listing of research databases. Click on C. Scroll down the list of
databases until you come to Canadian NewsStand and click on the title.
Make sure that the Canadian NewsStand Major Dailies option box is checked off, then click Continue
This will connect you to the Canadian NewsStand search screen.
2. SEARCH CANADIAN NEWSSTAND
Type the following into the search box: (global warming or climate change) and pollution.
Under the heading Limit results to, click the box beside Full text documents only. This will limit your
search results to articles that are available in full text. Click the yellow Search button located below the
search boxes.
A screen displaying a list of results from your search will appear.
3. REVIEW the RESULTS
Scroll down the page and review the list of titles. Each title is a link to more information on that article,
such as the summary. Find an article that interests you, and then click on the Full Text link at the bottom
of each brief record.
4. REVIEW AND PRINT YOUR ARTICLE
After reviewing the article, if you want to go back to your results list, click the link Back to Results found
both, at the top and bottom of the screen. To start a new search, click on the tab Advanced located in the
top left corner of the browser window.
To print an article, click the link Print, or the printer icon, while reviewing the full text article. You can also
email the article by clicking on Email from the row of options above the article window.
Search Engines and Subject Directories
Search engines search the Internet looking for matches to words you type into the search box.
Some examples of search engines include:
Google: http://www.google.com
Bing: http://www.bing.com
Subject directories are lists that alphabetically arrange web sites into various categories according
to subject. Some examples of subject directories include:
Open Directory: http://www.dmoz.org
Yahoo Directory: http://dir.yahoo.com
Hint: You can increase the relevancy of your internet search results by enclosing
phrases in quotes (e.g. “carbon emission trading”)
When entering your search statement into Google, keep this in mind:
• Google automatically puts an AND between words or phrases
• You can use OR to include similar terms, but it must be in all capital letters
• Use quotation marks “ ” to indicate a phrase (e.g. “global warming”)
Whenever you are searching for information on the Internet, it is usually a good idea to rely on more
than one web site.
Web sites can be valuable sources of information. However, be aware that:
• Web sites may contain inaccurate or outdated information
• Some web sites, such as Wikipedia, can be edited by anyone
whether or not they have expertise on the topic
• Web sites can be biased
Hint: Before using the information on a web site use the checklist provided in the
Library Learning Commons Evaluating Web Sites Research Guide