LibGuides: Science Senior Seminar: Searching Your Topic

Conducting Research

Researching
Narrowing Down Results

So you found a topic, now what?

You may need to adjust your topic if you don't find the necessary resources for your paper. Communicating with your mentor is key here; make sure you talk to them often about your topic so you can stay on track.

Your next step is to try and find some research articles and/or books that are relevant to your topic. Use these resources to conduct your research:

Search Our Library Catalog
Use your keywords to find print and electronic materials. Pay close attention to subject headers in the record to find related materials.
Pick a Database to Find Scholarly Articles
The specific databases you use will depend on your subject. Fortunately, librarians have grouped the available databases by subject. Try a few different databases within your subject area.
Talk to a Librarian
If you're having difficulty finding materials for your subject, there is help available to you!
Use the above link to email our librarians!
Stop by the Reference Desk in the library for help!
Call the Circulation Desk (734-432-5703) to be transferred to a librarian!

You're getting too many/too few results when you search:

One of the hardest parts about finding resources is figuring out which words to use when you search a journal database or the library catalog. Here a few tips and resources that can help:

Picking the right resource and/or database makes all the difference
- Library databases cover specific subject areas, so looking for food science topics in a philosophy database can prove useless. Try some of the databases that are grouped by subject to make sure you're starting in the right place.
- Databases can differ widely, so review the Help section to see if there are techniques specific to that database that you need to use. For example, medical/nursing databases have specific subject headings that can be used to find resources.

Try using Boolean searching techniques to narrow or widen your results list.
If you find an article or book of interest, take a look at the subject headings used to catalog the book and see if there are other words there you can use.
- Additionally, don't forget to look at the references cited in the article. You may find some fantastic articles there you can use.