ENGL 198 / AIS 102: Interdisciplinary Writing/American Indian Studies: Searching Tips

Your assignments:   develop an open-access glossary of terms and develop a series papers/writings focused on Native American or Indigenous issues.

One of the more important processes in conducting research is designing a search strategy. You should use your search strategy when using library search tools/databases. The following are things to consider in designing your strategy:

1. Analyze your topic
   • It is important to clarify what you are interested in finding out about your topic; familiarize yourself with the key issues and context.  Begin by creating a research question.
     
     Your research question may evolve and change over time. Sometimes using a format to phrase your question helps: I’m researching _____ to investigate _____ in order to understand _____. This structure gives you a way to keep your question narrow, identifying just the area(s) that you are studying and helping your reader position the question within a field.
   
    
   • You may need to find information in different kinds of sources
     [ Books | Journals | Newspapers | Magazines | Media (images, video, sound recordings)]
    
   • You may need to use more than one database
     [ Some examples: JSTOR | Academic Search Complete | Ethnic NewsWatch | Web of Science ]
    
   • You may need to explore a subject over a period of time
     [ For example: 5 years | Decade | 20 years | 19th Century | 20th Century ]
     
     It is important to clarify what you are interested in finding out about your topic; familiarize yourself with the key issues and context.  What question are you attempting to answer?  This is your opportunity to create a research question to guide your search.
      
2. Select Keywords
   • Create a list of Related Terms. Another way to express this, is to create a list of synonyms for the important concepts in your topic or research question.
      
   • Narrower terms: (Good for limiting your search, excluding irrelevant information, or adding focus to your search)  
     • • Population -gender (men, women), age (children/teens, adults, elderly), groups (artist, educators, clergy, ethnic/racial groups, etc.), organizations
       • Geography - towns, cities, states, countries, regions
       • Time Period - current, decade, 20th Century, ancient
   • Broader terms: (Allow you to explore the broader context of your topic. Good if you're having difficulty finding sources)
     Sovereignty, Treaties, Native Americans
      
3. Create a Search Query
   
   Many of our databases require that you use AND or OR to combine multiple terms/keywords in a search.
   
   See examples below:
    
   • fishing rights AND Makah (narrows your search, both terms 'fishing rights and Makah' must appear)
    
   • Snohomish Tribe AND federal recognition (narrows your search, both terms 'Snohomish Tribe and federal recognition' must appear)
    
   • American Indians OR Native Americans (broadens your search, one of the terms must appear. Good for use with synonyms.)
    
   • Use a technique called truncation with the * symbol to search additional forms of a word.
     
     Example: cultur* will also find cultural, culture, cultured, cultures, culturing.
     
     American Indians AND cultur*

     Be aware that the truncation symbol may vary depending on the database (*,#,?,!) are the most common.

<p>This activity is great for building a vocabular and clarifying the key elements/context of your research.</p>