Information Science Library Guide: Getting Started

Welcome to the library research guide for Information Science.  This guide is intended to provide quick links and information about library resources. If you need something specific, please contact your librarian.

If you need help with data (data management, analysis, cleaning, etc.) please contact the Center for Research Data and Digital Scholarship.

Finding books and ebooks in the library system can sometimes be challenging. Please reach out to your librarian if you can't find a title or a book on a specific topic.

To search for a specific title or author: use either the "library catalog" or the "advanced search" on the OneSearch tool.

• Regardless of what tool you use, be sure to find the filter for "source type" (book, ebook, academic journal, video) and date (this will be the "all time" drop down filter on OneSearch, or, alternatively, the "date range" under the "all filters" drop down menu.)
• On the library catalog, you can refine your search using the filters on the right side of the screen (type of resource, date range, etc.)

Here are some basic steps for doing library research. For more assistance, please see the Library's guide to Research Strategies or contact your librarian.

• Identify your topic. Search for information on what is currently known about your topic. Popular articles and websites are fine for this part of the process. Graduate students often look at the research being done by specific researchers or labs.
• Develop search terms or "keywords." These terms are important for searching in library databases. You will want to include synonyms and alternate terms. Always look for more search terms in articles you find on your topic
• Select a database to search. Some databases are for general (such as Academic Search Premier) and others are more specific to a subject area.  If you go to the library's research guides, you can see a list of the best databases to search for different subject areas.

Tips for using databases:

1. Use search terms (keywords) to search for articles on a given topic. Except in Google Scholar, natural language (sentences) will not work.
2. Use separate rows (search boxes) for your different terms when possible. If this is not possible, put AND between terms.
3. If you are not getting the results you want, try putting quotation marks around terms you want to keep together in a specific order.
   1. Example: "social media" AND "mental health"
4. Use the filters, usually located on the left side or top of the page, to limit results (date, etc.)
5. Practice: finding scholarly literature is a skill that takes time to develop.