Policing & Community Well-Being

Finding Articles Tutorial

Troubleshooting Searches

Too few articles:

  • Check for typos and spelling. Consider using both American and British spellings (eg. behaviour or behavior).
  • Remove long phrases.
  • Make sure you're using a database that is likely to include information on your topic.
  • Try using other synonyms and alternate words joined by the Boolean Operator 'OR' (e.g. aboriginal or indigenous or First Nations).
  • Check your Boolean logic.  Are you using 'AND' when you should be using 'OR'?
  • If you have found at least one good article, look at the references of this article to find other related articles OR use the 'Find citing' or 'Find related' buttons when available in the databases.

Too many articles:

  • Add another concept to your searching using the Boolean operator 'AND'.
  • Add Limits (e.g. Peer Reviewed, Date of Publication, Language, Publication Type, etc.).
  • Check your Boolean logic. Are you using 'OR' when you should be using 'AND'?
  • When Keyword searching, try searching just in the Title field. This is not recommended for all searches, as you will eliminate relevant articles that don't have those keywords in the title, but it will likely find a few articles to get you started.
  • If you're searching in a database that covers all subjects (e.g. Academic Search Elite, Web of Knowledge), look for a database that is subject specific.

What is Interlibrary Loan?

Interlibrary loan is a system that allows you to request material from other libraries to be sent to Trent for you to borrow. Normally, there are no costs to use the ILL service. Plan ahead because it can take a few days or even weeks for material to be sent, depending upon availability.

Visit the Interlibrary Loan page for more information.

Find Articles in Omni

You can find most articles using the Omni search. Enter some keywords, a citation, a DOI, an author - whatever you need.

The link to full text is in the full description when you click the title.

Databases

Databases

Indexes (databases) offer more controlled and subject-specific searching. Search the index, find items you like, then follow the links to the full article. See the "Finding Articles" tutorial for details.

Successful searching requires two things: search in the right place, and select the best search terms.
For the right place, select a database that covers your topic appropriately.
For search terms, select a few key terms that you expect to find in a description of your topic.

Major Scholarly Databases

 

 

Other Useful Databases

These databases might also be useful, depending on your topic and your research needs. They're in alphabetical order.

Subjects: Law