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Agriculture Policy (03-508)

Getting started

What kind of information do you need for your topic or research question?

[ types of information ]

 

Search It

[ climate change example: evidence, causes, solutions ]

  • To create a shape, click on any of the shape icons on the left navigation bar 
  • To type inside a shape, double click within the boundaries of a shape
  • Shapes can be dragged around and resized inside the canvas. To resize a shape, hover mouse pointer over either the right side or underneath of a shape to toggle the resizable arrows
  • To toggle the customization options, hover within the boundaries of a shape 
    •  - change background color of the shape
    •  - change border color of the shape
    •  - change text color of the shape
    •  - delete shapeTo draw a connection between shapes, hover mouse pointer around the center of a shape to toggle the circular connection source and then drag and draw a line from the source to any other shape
  • To delete a connection between shapes, double click on the connection line
  • To pull up the customization navigation menu, click Customize (top right). Any changes made will be applied to all shapes and connections already present in the canvas as well as any consequent shapes and connections
  • To revert back to the original stylings, click Reset
  • To download the image as a JPEG image file, click on the Download button on the top navigation bar
  • To clear the image, click Discard (top right)

Important: Put parentheses around keywords connected with the boolean OR[ AND OR NOT visual ]
graphic: https://library.nd.edu.au/findit/tips

Phrase Searching (use double quotes for exact match)

"social media"
"climate change"

"customer satisfaction"


Wildcard symbols (these differ among databases, so check help files)

    For example, EBSCOhost wildcard symbols are: 

  • The asterisk (*) matches multiple characters, type pediatric* to find all records containing pediatrics, pediatrician or pediatricians
  • The hash sign (#) matches one optional character: type colo#r to find all records containing color or colour
  • The question mark (?) matches exactly one character: type ne?t to find all records containing neatnest or next.

How to search

  • Keyword searching using Boolean Operators
    • AND - results must contain each word:  puppy AND kitten
    • OR - results contain either word:  (puppy OR kitten)
    • AND NOT (book searches) excludes word:  puppy AND NOT kitten

[ boolean operators ]
 

"public relations" AND "team-based approach"  

classroom AND (discipline OR management)


("Kansas City" AND NOT Missouri) and 
crime
  • Does the library have the book "____________________"?
  • Click on Title - enter the title you want to locate. (Pro tip: If the title doesn't display, remove the subtitle (colon and all text after it)
  • Searching by Author - an author search allows you to browse for items by author. 
    • An author is the person, artist, composer, government body or organization responsible for the creation of the content of a work.
      • Mark Twain
  • Searching by Corporate/Non-Personal Author
    • A corporate author is any group or organization that is responsible for the content of a published work. They include organizations, corporations, governmental entities, and musical or artistic groups.
      • Ford Motor Company 
      • United Nations
    • For corporate bodies that are best known by their abbreviations, search using the abbreviated form.
      • Example: (CNN)

What are wildcards?

  • Use an Asterisk (shift/8) to find all variations of a word

EXAMPLE:  ethic* finds any results with ethic, ethics, ethical

  • Use a Question mark to replace one character within a word 

EXAMPLE:   wom?n finds both woman and women

Search strategy

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