As you come up with questions sparked by the research you do, you can refer back to the sample types of inquiry questions listed on page 35 in The Curious Researcher.
Or go to the Research Guide for a subject related to your topic and see what the librarian for that subject recommends.
Examples: Writing about bias in textbooks? Try the Research Guide for Education. Writing about athletes' blogs? Try the Research Guide for Kinesiology or Communication.
Are your search results not relevant? Try these advanced search tips:
| Put phrases in quotation marks (when you want to keep the words together in that exact order) | "literacy tests" |
| Use an asterisk when you want to find multiple variants on a word |
latin* (finds latina, latino, latin american) child* (finds child, children, childhood) |
| Use OR to try searching for multiple synonyms at once |
latin* OR hispanic |
| Use NOT to eliminate results that aren't relevant | internet trolls NOT patent |
| Search for your keywords in the title to make sure the results are really about those words and don't just mention them once | Click Advanced Search, the Select a Field, and then choose TI Title |
| Find an article that is relevant, and look at the Subjects that article is tagged with. Then add those subjects to your search. | If you're searching for articles about the SAT and the ACT, you may see that these are referred to as College Entrance Examinations. Try searching for "College Entrance Examinations" instead. |
Today, we will be using these pages on this Research Guide:
As you look through your sources, ask yourself:
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