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Finding Academic Sources

Using Search All (OneSearch)

Using Search All (OneSearch) to begin your research will provide a lot of resources. Choose key terms and type them into the search box. Keep in mind that your initial key terms may morph into terms that may be more common within academic communities. Simple terms and brief phrases are often best. 

Depending on your topic, Search All will often return quite a large number of sources. Next, you'll need to start sifting through the material to find the exact source to help with your research. If you'd like, click here to test out a search. Also, here are some questions to consider: 

  • What type of sources are you looking for? On the left hand side of the results page, you can limit by type of source. Under "Source Types", click "Show More" to display a list of various sources: academic journals, newspapers, books, magazines, electronic resources, reports. These are just a few of they types of sources that a Search All search will return. 
     
  • Are you looking for material within a certain time frame? If so, you can limit by publication date by either using the slider or type in the years for which you are looking for material. 
     
  • Are you looking for resources that are within a certain database? Search All will lead you to sources that can be found in databases. Some databases are good for getting a general sense of a topic and others are more specific. To find out what databases your Search All search pulled from, under "Databases Searched", click "Show More" and another window will open. From here, you can see where the majority of sources are located. You can click on a database name to only show the sources from that database. 

Activity: Take a few minutes to practice using Search All

1. Start at the Tomlinson Library Homepage. 

2. Test out a Search All search. 

3. Type in a few keywords -- less is more in this case. Avoid typing in an entire question. 

4. Set a few limits from the left hand side. 

5. Write a brief (approximately 3-5 sentences) summary of your searching experience. What went well? What surprised you? What did you learn?