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SHB First Year Seminar (198)

William Dirienzo, Breeyawn Lybbert, Tracy Smith Leiker, Erica Wiest

About this guide

This guide provides an introduction to information evaluation and research - concepts and resources that you may use in your first year seminar course, other university courses, and in life beyond the university! Each page provides guidance and sources that may help you meet the requirements of various assignments.

If you need help with library search tools and resources, just click on the Research Help tab. For other questions about your assignments, consult with your professor.

Search@UW - Search Books, Articles and More

Introducing Search@UW

Referred to as a "discovery layer," Search@UW pulls content from existing resources into one convenient search interface.

What’s in Search@UW

Search@UW contains millions of resources including all UW System Libraries collections, digital collections, database articles and more. Books and Media: You will find over 16 million items from UW System Libraries in Search@UW. Digital Collections: Find items from UW Digital Collections. Articles: You will find the majority of our articles from journals, magazines, and newspapers in Search@UW. This is not the only place to look. Try searching in our databases as well!

Individual Article Databases

Search@UW or single database search?

The best use of Search@UW is when you need a large number or a variety of resources.  It is also helpful when your research question spans a number of different subjects, making it difficult to choose a single-subject database.

However, not all database content is available through Search@UW.  There will also be many instances in which a single-subject database will have enough content that a user will not need the multiple resources connected to Search@UW.  In these cases, a single database search may be easier and more efficient.

Building a Search: Keywords

One of the best ways to improve your research results is to build a list of keywords.  Sometimes it can be difficult to tap into the right words that will lead you to the information you need.  Try this strategy...

  1. Write three words that might help you get information on your topic.
  2. Then write three synonyms or related words for each.
  3. Try searching using different combinations of these words.
  4. As you view search results, look at the "subject terms" or other terminology in the records.  Use these terms in new searches.

Example Topic:   

Keywords: College Athlete Pay
Should college athletes be paid to play?

 

Synonyms:

 university sports salary
collegiate basketball money
higher education players compensation