Sample search strategies
With the help of a reference librarian, each of the following students constructed a search strategy appropriate for his or her research question.
Sophie Harba’s 
topic, the role of government in legislating food choices, is the subject of lively debates in scholarly articles and in publications aimed at the general public. To find information on her topic, Harba decided to
- search the Web to locate current news, government publications, and information from organizations that focus on issues surrounding government regulations of food
- check a library database for current peer-reviewed research articles
- use the library catalog to search for a recently published book mentioned in a blog and on several well-respected Web sites
Luisa Mirano’s topic, the limitations of medications for childhood obesity, is the subject of psychological studies as well as articles in newspapers and magazines aimed at the general public. Thinking that both scholarly and popular works would be appropriate, Mirano decided to
- search the Web to see what issues about childhood obesity might be interesting
- refine her search to focus on medications reported in newspaper and magazine articles, advocacy Web sites, and government sites
- search specialized databases related to psychology and medicine for recent scholarly and scientific articles
- track down an article that several of her sources cited as an influential study
Ned Bishop’s topic, Nathan Bedford Forrest’s role in the Fort Pillow massacre, has been investigated and debated by professional historians. Given the nature of his historical topic, Ned Bishop decided to
- locate books through the library’s online catalog
- locate scholarly articles by searching a database specializing in history sources
- locate R-16newspaper articles from 1864 by searching a historical newspaper database
- use the Web to track down additional primary documents mentioned in his sources
USING SOURCES RESPONSIBLY: Use your research log to record every source you read or view, especially noting page numbers, URLs, or electronic pathways such as DOIs (digital object identifiers). If you gather complete publication information from the start of your project, you’ll easily find it when you need to document your sources.
