Basic Database Searching Tips

  •  Type your information in the Search String box.

  •  Use + for truncation (child+ to find child, children, childhood, etc.)

  •  Use the dropdown menus to limit searches by exact phrase or to limit fields by title, author or subject.

  •  Click the checkbox to limit sources to those available online.

  •  Submit Search (or Reset)

  •  Across the top and bottom of the search result page, use the magnifying glass to begin a new search. Use the left and right triple arrows to move between pages. And use the up and down arrows to move back and forth between the top and bottom of each page.

  • Highlighted links indicate articles available online. Some sites require subscriptions. Note citation details before linking.

  • To generate a bibliography from the display list, click the Save All button to save all displayed documents. YOU MUST SAVE EACH PAGE INDIVIDUALLY.

  • The Documents to display per page is set at 20. You may wish to select a larger number from the dropdown menu. Longer lists result in fewer "saves" when generating a bibliography.

  • We recommend saving your search results by choosing an easily identifiable file name and changing the file ending to .txt (e.g. a search on cloning might be saved as cloning.txt). The file can then be viewed in WordPad or another word processing program such as Microsoft Word or WordPerfect.

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