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World Civilization I - HIST101 - Granger

Searching with keywords

As you were learning more about your topic, you may have found new keywords! Here are some ideas to help you find and brainstorm additional keywords and focus your searches:

What time period is your focus?
Look for specific terminology, people, or places that can help you target relevant sources.
- Example: The Song of Roland is a chanson de geste based on the Battle of Roncevaux Pass
Think of synonyms and related terms - If you can't find what you are looking for, try using a synonym/closely related term.
- Example: Epic of Sundiata, Sunjata, Malinke

Search techniques

As you develop keywords and narrow down your topic, there are some techniques you can use to help you find the most relevant resource

"Quotes around phrase" - this searches for your phrase in that exact order instead of as separate words.
- Example: "House of Wisdom"
Truncation: femin* = feminine, feminist, femininity, etc. - this searches for any word that begins with that root
Wild card: wom?n = woman, women - similar to truncation, but it searches for words with any letter in the open spot
AND - combine your search terms with and to focus your topic
OR - combine your search terms with or to search for multiple synonyms at the same time (broadening your search)

Combine keywords and use multiple synonyms or truncation/wild cards to create a complex search string:
("Hildegard of Bingen" OR "Hildegard de Bingen") AND (hymn OR chant)

Additional strategies

Try searching for the author of the source you already found if you are having trouble finding more
- On the search results list, you can often click an author's name to perform a search for it
Follow the linked subject terms on an article or source you already found to see of list of related sources (not all databases offer this tool)
Some terms were coined after an event or time period ended, so using them will not help you find sources from that period!
- Example: The "University of Paris" is often referred to as the "Sorbonne," but that nickname was coined about 50 years after its founding.

Keep a look-out for:

Dates!
- A source about Pope Innocent III written in 1936 is not a primary source.
- A secondary source written in 1950 will likely not provide the most up-to-date understanding of a past event.

Research Sources

The previous page provided databases for background information. This list is focused on academic or scholarly sources that will help you develop an analysis of your topic. Use the specific keywords you developed to locate relevant articles.

The library has many other databases to choose from. You may find one that is better suited to your topic using our Databases Page.

If you want to use a book or eBook, you can search in the Library Catalog, linked from the bottom of the page.

Diversity Studies Collection
A Gale database that provides access to scholarly journals and magazines that explore cultural differences, contributions, and influences in the global community. This is a good resource for the social sciences, history and liberal arts coursework.
Gender Studies Collection
This Gale database offers access to scholarly journals and magazines covering topics including gender studies, family and marital issues as well as covering topics such as health coverage, relationships, religion, political issues and social issues within the LGBTQ community.
GenderWatch
A ProQuest database that includes important historical perspectives on the evolution of the women's movement, men's studies, the transgendered community and the changes in gender roles over the years.
It indexes over 300 titles, with more than 250 in full-text, from an array of academic, radical, community and independent presses dating back to 1970 that include scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books and NGO, government and special reports. A good source for topics like gender, family, ethnic, and societal studies as well as sexuality, religion, societal roles, feminism, masculinity, eating disorders, healthcare, and the workplace.
Global Issues in Context
A Gale database that broadly covers the important issues of the modern world integrating news, global viewpoints, reference, country information, primary source documents, videos, and statistics in a single search.
The database focuses on broad issues as well as targeted issues including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Syrian civil war, genetically modified foods, internet control and security, and privacy rights. Updated daily with more than 660 geographically diverse full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals for a global view.
JSTOR
A multidisciplinary, scholarly database containing digitized back issues of academic journals, books, primary sources, and current issues of journals.
It provides full-text searches of almost 2,000 journals on a variety of subjects including history, science, literature, music, philosophy, world culture and business.
Literature Resource Center (Gale)
A Gale database that offers up-to-date biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism, and reviews on more than 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world.
It provides access to full-text articles and essays from journals and magazines, poems, short stories, plays, and interviews plus links to websites and images.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context
This Gale database provides information covering today's hottest social issues. It contains pro/con viewpoints, magazine & newspaper articles, scholarly journal articles, reference articles, and more.
This Gale resource provides more than 20,100 pro/con viewpoints covering today’s hottest social issues and more than 19,200 reference articles, including topic overviews, charts and graphs, and statistical information. It contains over 300 profiles of federal agencies and special-interest groups and offers a dedicated portal focused on the annual debate topic determined by the National Speech and Debate Association. It provides access to full-text newspapers and periodicals from multiple perspectives, including National Review, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Commentary, and CNN Wire. This is a great resource for background research on topics to gain different perspectives.
World History Collection
A Gale database that provides mostly full-text access to leading scholarly journals and magazines in the field of world history.
Some of the titles included are Australian Aboriginal Studies, China Review International, Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation, Historical Studies, Journal of African History, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, and Latino Leaders. Articles are updated daily and provide balanced coverage of events in world history, both current thinking and established scholarly work.
RVOneSearch
RVOneSearch provides access to most of the information contained in many of the library's databases plus the RVCC library catalog.
It is a great place to begin your research with select key words to obtain a list of articles available throughout multiple databases as well as books, ebooks and websites accessible through RVCC’s library. Many limiters are available to modify your search such as full-text only, peer reviewed (scholarly), specific date ranges, or a specific database or source type.

Books and eBooks

RVCC Library Catalog
This is access to the complete RVCC library catalog of print books, ebooks and all other electronic sources, audiobooks, periodicals, DVD’s, CD’s, music scores, and websites.
Materials can be searched by keyword, title, author, or subject. To search for articles, please use RVOneSearch or a specific database.