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Finding Articles

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On the library

website, scroll

down to “Find

Articles & More”

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Choose Your SubjectFrom the drop-down menu, choose the subject that best fits your topic. For PTSD, you might try psychology. The list of databases

automatically filters to the options best for your subject.

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Let’s try the Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection

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Search using your first keyword and click “Full Text”

Full Text

Tip 1: For articles, avoid using acronyms such as PTSD, spell it out for better results!Tip 2: Click the “Full Text” button to insure all entries have articles.Tip 3: Click the “Peer Review” button for research-based academic articles.

Spell it out…

Peer review

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Let’s look at the results… (A) Article title. (B) Author and journal information.

(circle) Number of pages. (D) Article subjects. (E) Link to the article.

A

B

D

E

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Look at the article subjectsThis is how the articles are classified. Search with these to get better results!

Here we searched for PTSD, but found it was tagged Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

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Click the title for the article view (A) Here’s the article. (B) Find similar articles.

(C) Email yourself the article. (D) Citations. (E) Link to the article.

Always email yourself the articles!

A

B

D

E

C

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Focus your results

You will often see hundreds if not thousands of articles!

Use options in the left column including date, source type and subject to narrow your

results!

When you click a box or change the year, your results list will update.

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This left column can only provide basic

focusing. Let’s try combining keywords

for better results using the words…

And • Or • Not

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Start with your main topic.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Post-Traumatic

Stress Disorder

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However, you want to focus your topic on veterans suffering PTSD.

So add a second keyword…

Veterans

Post-Traumatic

Stress Disorder

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Post-Traumatic

Stress Disorder

Veterans

Search “Post traumatic stress disorder and Veterans”

Get articles with both terms in common – Veterans who suffer PTSDThis would be purple the overlap area.

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Post-Traumatic

Stress Disorder

Veterans

Search “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder not Veterans”

Now you get PTSD articles not related to veterans. For example, natural disaster or child abuse victims suffering PTSD. These articles are in the blue area.

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Search “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and (veterans or child abuse)”

OR is the way to examine multiple

aspects of the same issue.

This expands your results.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Veterans

Child Abuse

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Post-Traumatic

Stress Disorder

Iraq War

Experiment with keywords

Aim for a fewer very good articles instead of hundreds of so-so articles.

Changing Veterans to Iraq War gave us 38 good articles

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Need Help?

Visit, Call,IM or EmailBrendlinger Library

(215) 641-6594West Campus Library

(610) 718-1864IM a librarianrefdesk@mc3.edu