ELI 084S: Library Research

Jennifer Rosenstein, First Year Outreach Services Librarian

Agenda for today’s lesson

• Breaking down your topic into searchable keywords

• Using the library catalog• Using online databases • Where to get help

How to get started?

• Before you can begin researching you need to break down your topic into key words

• Example:

– globalization's influence on the economy of a developing country (China)

Concept A Concept B Concept C

Globalization Economy China

A more complex example

Is globalization a catalyst that facilitates wide-spread terrorism and extremism, which eventually result in many tragedies, such as the September 11th attack?

Try it yourself: Fill out the first row of your chart

Next: brainstorm synonyms for your key words

Concept A Concept B Concept C

Globalization Terrorism Attacks

Are there other ways of saying these ideas?

Searching the library catalog

From the library home page: www.pace.edu/library

Use the Search Plus box

Tips for using Search Plus (Encore) to search the catalog

• Use the tags on the right to narrow your search • When you find a book that looks helpful, look at the

Subjects for similar books• If you need books that are immediately available to you,

click on “Birnbaum Stacks” on the left– Note E-book options as well – Use Request It button to have books sent to NYC from other Pace campuses

• While you’re browsing, you can click on the “Add to List” link to keep track of items you were interested in – Use the “My List” button at the top right to access your list. You can e-mail the

list to yourself.

• Use the Connect NY button to find resources from other universities

• Note: Encore will also give you results from a few databases, but it’s hard to narrow them down using this interface

Recommended databases

Access all databases through the library home page: www.pace.edu/library

Click on the Databases: Find an Article link • Opposing Viewpoints in Context

– For controversial topics, eg. homeschooling• Academic Search Premier

– General research • ABI-Inform

– Business topics • For specific companies or markets:

– Lexis-Nexis– Business & Company Resource Center – Global Market Information Database

Tips for database searching

• Combine terms across columns with AND

• Combine synonyms with ORand place multi-word phrases in quotation marks. Put OR terms in parentheses ()

Advanced Google searching

Google scholar: scholar.google.com Configure your settings to show articles available from Pace

• Video tutorial: http://youtu.be/MRFYjeNrFPM

Use the site: limiter

Note: Google automatically puts the AND between search terms

Use Google’s search tools to narrow your search.

Click show search tools for even more options.

• To get more help: • The library home page: pace.edu/library

• Use the Ask-a-Librarian link • Under “Library Services,” use the Video tutorials,

How do I?, and Research Guides links

look at the Research Guides for Business

and Marketing

• E-mail Jennifer! jrosenstein@pace.edu

• Stop by or call the reference desk (the desk under the big Information sign in the middle of the library)

• (212) 346-1331