Search boxes. They look alike but take you to very different places!

Most people start research with Google, Wikipedia--or maybe the library.

But each covers radically different types of sources, uses different search techniques and, when it comes to showing you results, has very different priorities.

It helps to know where you are actually looking.

You can evaluate each option just as you evaluate the credibility of a website or any other source.

Let's dig in!

1. Where would you look for the most sources possible?

2. Where would you look for the most credible sources?

3. What is the main difference between using Google and Google Scholar?

You can find Tunxis Library Online at

TUNXIS.EDU > click on Library and Instructional Technologies

To read a book or article off campus, you will be prompted to use your student log in (as with myCommNet, Blackboard and Office 365).

MYCOMMNET.EDU > Click on My Library Info > Click on Tunxis LIbrary

Since you already logged into myCommNet, you do not need to log in again. If you are a student based at another community college, you may need to click the name of your base campus and access online resources from their collection.

BLACKBOARD > Click on Tunxis Library

Easiest route to the library if you are already in Blackboard.

4. You can go to tunxis.edu and click on the orangey-yellow box for Library and Instructional Technology. Right click to open in a New Window and follow the video below and other parts of this Research Guide.

Tunxis Library Online includes collections and services.

We have around 275,000 books online; more than 11,000 subscriptions to journals, magazines or newspapers; and around 35,000 streaming videos for teaching and research. They are grouped into database collections which can be searched all together or separately. Scroll down this page to see all the databases.

If we do not have an article you need from a scholarly journal, we may be able to find it in some cases through interlibrary loan. This can take a few days to a week.

Librarians are available during regular hours to help you with your research. You can chat, text or email us. We can set up an appointment to video chat and screenshare.

What are you looking for? Try these types of sources or databases at Tunxis.

5. Which kind of source answers the most focused and specific questions?

You do not need to read everything (Step 5).

6. You can quickly decide if a peer reviewed article might be useful by first reading...what?

A topic overview provides essential context for your paper.

Click on the subject encyclopedia below. Scroll down for the section on Higher Education (click arrow to expand) Or use search box in upper right hand corner to search WITHIN this book. You can probably find an article with really helpful ideas or terms.

These reference databases have great subject encyclopedias.

• Gale Virtual Reference Library
• Credo Reference

These current issue databases include subject reference material. Articles may explain just one point of view.

• Gale Opposing Viewpoints
• SIRS Issue Researcher
   

Your biggest challenge? Finding the right keys to reveal the best sources.

Keywords, or search terms, tell a database what you are looking for.

If you are asking the question: Is college worth it? you might use value and college.

Try them, or other terms for your topic, in the main Tunxis Library search box below.

• Remember to select the Full Text Online option in the results page.
• You may get lucky and find a good source or two right away.
• You may have to change up the search terms.

Change your keywords to find more or fewer (and hopefully more relevant) results.

• Specific terms give fewer, or more focused, results.
• Broader terms or adding synonyms give more, or more general, results.

This video shows what happens when you move from narrow to broad terms.

Notice that you can easily do this within the Advanced Search options in the online library..

You can look for synonyms online or try special database tools below from Gale and Credo.

Gale Topic FInder	Credo Mind Map

EBSCO or Gale databases look different from this ProQuest database, but they all offer similar options.

To find scholarly research, check the box for Peer reviewed or Scholarly articles.

To find complete articles (not just abstracts or summaries), check the box for Full text.

Statistics deliver powerful impact to your argument. If you can find solid, recent data.

A few places to try:

Statista

Pew Research Center  A nonpartisan research group focused on major issues, trends and attitudes, mainly in the United States.

USA.gov    Federal government agencies collect a lot of data. Search for your topic or issue. Find the agency that deals with it. Look for any links to statistics, data or reports. For example The National Center for Education Statistics.

State government agencies

Wolfram Alpha A search engine for facts and computation. Type a question into the search box to get statistics. Click on the Society & Culture examples to see what kinds of questions it handles.

Google can help if you add the word statistics to your keyword search.

No luck after a while?

Change Where You Look.

• Try fresh places: a newspaper database, a business database or a history database to get fresh stories and different perspectives.
• Google Scholar can broaden things and bring up some more recent academic material.
• See if there is a nonprofit association dedicated fo your issue. They might have a RESOURCES link with reports or data.
• And there is always Google.Always use evaluation criteria to assess your source.
• Or get in touch with a librarian...we're here to help.

1. Where would you look for the most sources possible?   Google indexes the most websites by far. (If you are concerned about privacy try DuckDuckGo. It searches key parts of the web and gets decent results. In a pinch you may need to resort to Google.) This can help see what's out on the open web about your topic. You can always include .edu .gov or .org in the search box; educational, government or nonprofit sources are generally more helpful for research.

2. Where would you look for the most credible sources? A library. Google Scholar is also good, but the material is automatically harvested--not collected by people who know the field.

3. What is the main difference between using Google and Google Scholar? Google indexes the open web. Google Scholar indexes academic publications.

4. Right click to open a new window. You can easily lose track while checking out lots of sources, especially if you stay in the same tab or window! Right click to open a new tab, or new window, keeps things easy to access until you do not need them. PRO TIP: Sometimes opening a link in a new window can help if you are having trouble with authentication.

5. What kind of source answers the most narrow and specific questions? Peer reviewed (or scholarly research) articles. You are likely to find very specific items such as: "Learning styles and learning spaces: Enhancing experiential learning in higher education" or "Enrolling in Higher Education: The Impact of Regional Mobility and Public-Private Substitution Effects." You should have at least one (maybe two) peer reviewed articles, to establish authority. Some researchers do step back to write books or essays that take a wider view; if you search Google Scholar or a database like Academic Search Premiere, try a single broad search terms like "higher education". But you need to round out most essays with more general sources.

6. You can quickly decide if a peer reviewed article might be useful by first reading...what? The abstract. It describes the article in a nutshell.