Clearly define your thesis statement. Trouble spots to look out for:
Too Broad - EXAMPLE: homelessness
Too Narrow - EXAMPLE: homeschooling AND socialization AND "family income"
[NOTE: to search a phrase use quotes]
Break down your thesis into concepts. Develop a list of synonyms.
EXAMPLE: homeschooling AND socialization
Other terms for socialization could be interaction, acculturation, "social behavior" or "social development".
Combining different terms gives you different terms.
Discover@UMSL provides access to a wide variety of sources through electronic databases and the UM System’s library catalog, including journal articles, books, ebooks, media, and more. The search tool pulls results from most of UMSL’s databases at once.
To find the Discover@UMSL search tool, look for the white box in the center of the library's homepage (umsl.edu/library).
This guide offers tips on navigating the search tool. For tips on how to choose keywords and structure your search, see UMSL Library’s Effective Searching tutorials and the Combining Terms page of this guide.
On the library homepage (umsl.edu/library), type in your keywords and hit enter or click the Search button. Use the least number of words possible—the more keywords you enter, the smaller your list of results will be (because each result must contain all the words you enter). Use double quotation marks to search for exact phrases. If you want to limit your search to peer-reviewed articles from the start, you can select the limiter (circled in yellow) below the keyword box—or you can wait until you get to the results page to select that limiter.
Here are some helpful features of the results page:
A Limit your results by choosing filters (also called limiters) near the top of the page, below the search bar. Read more about filters at the bottom of this box.
B The source type appears above the item's title. Some common examples are Academic Journal, Book, eBook, and Newspaper. If an article is peer reviewed, you'll also see that designation on this line.
C When UMSL provides full text access to an article, you'll see one of the following:
D The database in which the item was discovered.
E The abstract and subject headings can be expanded for each item. The subject headings offer alternative search terms you can try.
F To add the item to your Saved folder (see the Saving & Retrieving Items page), click the bookmark icon. The overflow menu (3 vertical dots) allows you to do one of the following:
G The recent activity section of your dashboard will let you revisit searches and records you've viewed during your active session.
H The links at the bottom of the left sidebar will take you to:
I The most common filters appear along the top of the page, just below the search box. They include:
J To see the full list of filters, click the All Filters button, which shows the number of active filters in parentheses. This button opens a panel on the right side of the page.
K The active filters appear at the top of the panel. The Available in Library Collection filter is applied by default; it searches all of the books in the UM System libraries and all of the articles available here at UMSL. To search for articles held at other libraries, deselect Available in Library Collection.
L The Expanders section includes a couple of default expanders. It's usually best to leave these options as they are.
M The Published Date section is very similar to the one at the top of the page (in I ), but it also lets you choose a custom date range.
N It's tempting to select a specific geographical location, but for most databases geography refers to where the journal is published and not where the article's study takes place.
