RAMAT 110: Race Matters, First-Year Seminar

Remember that research is an iterative process, which means that you may need to repeat some or all of the previous steps in order to find the best information resources for your research assignment. If the first search string you entered returns too many resources, not enough resources, or non-relevant resources, there are a few techniques you can use to improve the list of search results.

Too many resources?

One way to narrow the search results is by using the Boolean operator "AND" to add terms to your search string and focus on more specific information resources. 

Another way to narrow the search results is to use the facets listed under the "Refine My Results" setting to help narrow the results to a more manageable number. Facets can be used to refine your results in terms of the Material Type, Publication Date, Subject, Library, Location, Collection, Language, Author, Genre, Database, and Periodical Title.

Not enough resources?

The Boolean operator "OR" can help broaden your search by adding terms to your search string and increasing the number of results.

Alternatively, you might try a new search using different keywords or keyword combinations.

Non-relevant resources?

Try formulating a new search string using different keywords.

Alternatively, if you find a few relevant results you can use those catalog records to help identify similar resources by means of linked data fields such as the author, publication, subject headings, cited-in/cited-by, and related readings.