HIS 131 Smith

• Keep your initial search simple—single words or short phrases.  In database, set the limit for “Full Text” right away, but save other limits (such as date ranges, number of pages, peer-reviewed, etc.) until you see the results list.

• Look for common database tools (suggested subject headings, abstracts, citation help, emailing and save options) on the edges of the page, often in a color bar above the search boxes or in a separate frame on the right or left of your results list.

Truncation allows you to search variables of a word by typing part of the word plus an asterisk *

ADOPT finds just adopt, but ADOPT* finds adopted, adopting, adoptions, etc.

WOMAN finds just woman, but WOM*N finds woman and women.

Enclose your words in quotation marks or parentheses to create a phrase search.

CHILDREN OF MEN finds titles with any combination of those common words.

"CHILDREN OF MEN" finds the book and movie with that exact title.

Look for  proximity search options.

Many CFCC databases offer proximity searching by typing multiple search terms within a single search box (with no quotation marks).

Google also uses a variation of proximity searching, giving more relevance to words typed in a single search box if they appear near each other in the results.

Use the right  Boolean operator.

• Use the right Boolean operator--usually AND--to link two search terms.  Using OR often results in a large number of unrelated (and less useful) results.  Using AND assures that both of your search terms will appear in the same document.

Use the search box below and type in your topic plus one of the following words or phrases:

• History Source*
• History Document*
• Personal Narrative*
• Diar* (this retrieves Diary and Diaries)
• History Archive*
• Correspondence
• Letter*
• Speech*
• Primary source*
• Sources

Note: Use of the * at the end of a word will search for singular and plural forms.

• Advanced Search

Browse HISTORICAL DRAMA in Call Number PN 1995.9 .H5  More titles may often be found in .D7 (Drama) and .W3 (War).