LibGuides: W132 Quick Guide: Irick Spring 2020: Research Argumentative Essays

Step 1: Brainstorm search terms

Think about keywords or phrases that are important to your topic:

Example paper topic: women in prison

Example search terms: women, females, inmates, offenders, prison, incarceration, "female prisoners", "female inmates", "incarcerated women"

Also, think about what you want to know about your topic:

Example paper topic: women in prison

Example questions: Why is the number of women in prison increasing? What is the experience of women who are in prison? Why do most women go to prison? How do mothers who are in prison maintain a relationship with their kids? What are the mental health effects of women who are in prison?

Think about how to incorporate your questions into your search terms:

Example paper topic with question: How do mothers in prison maintain a relationship with their kids?

Example search terms: women, mothers, moms, parents, inmates, offenders, prison, relationship, custody, "mothers in prison", "parenting from prison", "incarcerated parents"

Step 2: Pick a starting point

Choose a starting point for your search based on the types of sources you need to find:

EBSCO Discovery Service This link opens in a new window
Also known as the search box on the library's home page, this discovery tool allows you to search across multiple databases at once to find a wide variety of sources.
Use this when you:
- Need different types of sources (scholarly journal articles, magazine or newspaper articles, ebooks, etc.)
- Want to get a lot of search results and narrow it down with filters.
- Need a general sense of what has been published about your topic.
- Want to make sure you're getting results from a lot of different disciplines or fields of study.
Access available at IU Kokomo and off-campus with Network ID
Vendor: EBSCO
News & Newspapers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Search for articles published in major news outlets, including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune.
Use this when you:
- Only want news sources, not scholarly journal articles.
- Want to see a wide range of news sources, not just from one outlet.
Access available at IU Kokomo and off-campus with Network ID.
Vendor: ProQuest

Databases A-Z
Search in a more specific database through the library. Use the filters at the top of the list to find a database that is relevant for the subject of your topic.

Step 3: Apply filters

The benefit of using library databases in your research is the ability to apply helpful filters to quickly narrow down results. Here are our top recommended filters:

Publication Date: before you start looking at results, make sure your publication date is set according to your assignment and topic.
Format or Source Type: if you only need academic or scholarly journal articles, check that box.
Subject: think of these as the keywords built in to the database. In EDS, click "Show More" and you can check the boxes for the subject terms that are relevant for your topic.

Step 4: Review search results

Start scrolling through your search results to see if the results look relevant for your topic:

If you are seeing good results, great! Skip to Step 6.
If not, or if you're seeing way too many results, move to Step 5.

Step 5: Change it up

Changing up your search strategy is an important part of the research process:

Change up your search terms:
- Use the search results you're seeing to try out new terms
- Apply different Subject filters
- Add one of these search booster keywords to find results that answer specific questions about your topic:
  - Impact: what's the effect?
  - Statistics: how many?
  - Demographics: who?
  - Timeline: when did this happen?
  - History: what has happened over time?
  - Outcome: what are the results?
Search in a new database:
- Find a subject-specific database that fits your topic
- Search in IUCAT to find books or ebooks with relevant chapters

W132 Quick Guide: Irick Spring 2020

Whenever you see a source that looks like it might be relevant for your topic:

Save it somewhere you can easily get back to it:

​Use the Cite tool to copy and paste a sample citation

Step 1: Brainstorm search terms

Think about keywords or phrases that are important to your topic:

Example paper topic: women in prison

Example search terms: women, females, inmates, offenders, prison, incarceration, "female prisoners", "female inmates", "incarcerated women"

Also, think about what you want to know about your topic:

Example paper topic: women in prison

Example questions: Why is the number of women in prison increasing? What is the experience of women who are in prison? Why do most women go to prison? How do mothers who are in prison maintain a relationship with their kids? What are the mental health effects of women who are in prison?

Think about how to incorporate your questions into your search terms:

Example paper topic with question: How do mothers in prison maintain a relationship with their kids?

Example search terms: women, mothers, moms, parents, inmates, offenders, prison, relationship, custody, "mothers in prison", "parenting from prison", "incarcerated parents"

Step 2: Pick a starting point

Choose a starting point for your search based on the types of sources you need to find:

Step 3: Apply filters

The benefit of using library databases in your research is the ability to apply helpful filters to quickly narrow down results. Here are our top recommended filters:

Publication Date: before you start looking at results, make sure your publication date is set according to your assignment and topic.

Format or Source Type: if you only need academic or scholarly journal articles, check that box.

Subject: think of these as the keywords built in to the database. In EDS, click "Show More" and you can check the boxes for the subject terms that are relevant for your topic.

Step 4: Review search results

Start scrolling through your search results to see if the results look relevant for your topic:

If you are seeing good results, great! Skip to Step 6.

If not, or if you're seeing way too many results, move to Step 5.

Step 5: Change it up

Changing up your search strategy is an important part of the research process:

Change up your search terms:

Use the search results you're seeing to try out new terms

Apply different Subject filters

Add one of these search booster keywords to find results that answer specific questions about your topic:

Impact: what's the effect?

Statistics: how many?

Demographics: who?

Timeline: when did this happen?

History: what has happened over time?

Outcome: what are the results?

Search in a new database:

Find a subject-specific database that fits your topic

Search in IUCAT to find books or ebooks with relevant chapters

Use the Cite tool to copy and paste a sample citation