Starting Your Research
Search databases using keywords, such as concepts or subject phrases, that are linked together by and, or, not used to to identify articles and sources. Once you have identified your topic, selecting your keywords is pretty simple.
- Divide your topic into concepts/segments/pieces.
In the question, "What is the relationship among Islam, religious worship and architecture?," the concepts are: Islam, religious worship, and architecture.
- Brainstorm for synonyms and related terms.
You will need to translate these terms to keywords later when you are searching databases for articles and sources. Even if a combination of words works well in one database, you may have to change keywords to find results in another database.
|
Concepts: |
Islam |
religious worship |
architecture |
|
Related terms: |
Islamic |
prayer |
Mosque |
|
Muslim |
Qur'an/Koran |
sacred space |
3. Create your search by combining your keywords using and, or, not.
-
- And is used to narrow your search. Results returned will contain both sets of keywords.
- Or is used to expand your search. Results returned will return either keyword.
- Not will limit your search, and will exclude a keyword from the results.
You can also use parentheses to combine your search strings:
(Islam or Islamic) and (religious worship or prayer)
4. Follow the database-specific language.
As you do your searching, keep track of the words that appear in the detailed descriptions, or records, of your results list in the fields that will be labeled with headings such as subjects, descriptors, or subject headings. These synonyms and related terms are the specific vocabulary used to describe your search term in that database or discipline. Using these in your search can often improve your search results by making it more accurate and efficient/less time.
Architecture Publishing Timeline
Days
Social Media, Blogs, Websites (Instagram, X, Newspapers)
1-3 Months
Consumer Journals (Architectural Digest, Oldhouse Journal)
3-12 Months
Professional Journals (Architectural Record), Academic and Scholarly Journals (Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians)
1+ Years
Academic Books
Years
Reference Books, Archival Materials, Image Collections
Types of Information
One of the questions you will ask yourself during the search process is What type of information will best help me answer my questions? Thinking about the type of information you are looking for will determine how you search for that information, where you look for it, and what tools you use.
Examples of different types of information and where to find it include:
- statistics
- primary sources/ first person experiences
- scholarly literature (articles)
- news stories
- overviews of a topic (books)
You may also want to consider sources outside of your traditional library such as archives and Special Collections, interviewing knowledgeable individuals, businesses, etc.
When is a primary source a secondary source?
Whether something is a primary or secondary source often depends upon the topic and its use.
A biology textbook would be considered a secondary source if in the field of biology, since it describes and interprets the science but makes no original contribution to it.
On the other hand, if the topic is science education and the history of textbooks, textbooks could be used a primary sources to look at how they have changed over time.
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