ENGL 3109 - Reading & Writing about Literature - Dr. Edenfield: Library Search Tips

P - Language & Literature (Henderson Library, 3rd Floor) 

• PN - Literary History & Collections 
• PS - American Literature
• PS261
  -267 South (U.S. South)

Check out the Library of Congress' website for more information on its classification methods. 

Discover Search Tips:

• Use quotation marks around phrases
  • "Coastal Georgia"
  • "Climate Change"
• Use Boolean Operators to expand, narrow, and/or refine searches:
  • AND = narrows
    • Example: "Climate Change"
  • OR = more, expands or broadens
  • NOT = excludes a term or phrase (often useful in the later stages of research)
• Apply filters, which can vary depending on your research needs
  • Common filters include:
    • Date
    • Resource type
    • Subject
• Where appropriate, do a proximity search:
  • "climate change" n5 "coastal Georgia"
    • Searches for the two phrases within five words of each other
    • change the number after n to fit your search needs
• Search a specific journal in Discover:
  • JN "Social Media + Society"
    • Searches the journal Social Media + Society
  • Pro tip: Use parentheses when searching for a specific term within a journal
    • Example: (JN "Social Media + Society") AND (millennials and "mental health")

Web Search Tips:

• Use quotation marks around phrases
  • "Coastal Georgia"
  • "Climate Change"
• Limit searches by website domains:
  • site:.edu
  • site:.gov
  • site:.org
• Where appropriate, conduct a web proximity search (differs from a Discover proximity search)
  • "climate change" AROUND(5) "coastal Georgia"
    • Searches for the two phrases within five words of each other - customize the number to meet your needs
    • "AROUND" MUST be capitalized for this to work
• Search a specific website for terms or phrases:
  • alligator "Savannah River" site:georgia.gov
    • Searches georgia.gov, the state's official webpage, for the word alligator and the phrase "Savannah River"
    • Please note that I did NOT use a Boolean Operator in this web search string
• Exclude terms
  • "South Florida" -crocodile
    • Excludes crocodile from the search
• Combine search tricks
  • alligator AROUND(9) "Savannah River" site:.edu
    • Searches the .edu domain for the word alligators no more than five words from the phrase "Savannah River"
  • "South Florida" AROUND(3) crocodile -Miami site:.gov
    • Searches for the phrase "South Florida" around the word crocodile. Also, excludes the word Miami. Searches ONLY websites in the .gov domain