Starting your research

Finding books on your topic

When you start to look for resources on any subject it is always helpful to have alternative terms or keywords.

Terminology, or the way we name things may vary between countries, e.g.

caravans can also be referred to as trailers
primary school can also be referred to as elementary school
university can also be referred to as college

The words in your assignment question may not be the terms that are used in a Library catalogue or database.

Using alternative keywords will help you to retrieve all the resources that the Library has to offer in its collection.

Subject dictionaries and encyclopedias will help you identify different terms.

Reference material

Search the Catalogue for dictionaries and encyclopedias

• if you are looking for a definition of fascism, search using a broader subject term such as politics to find a dictionary or encyclopedia

• truncate encyclopedia e.g. encyclop* will find encyclopedia and encylopaedia

• the latest print reference books are usually Not For Loan

• online dictionaries and encyclopedias can be accessed via the Catalogue and Sirius

In Sirius,

• click Find Resource

• click Locate

• select Dictionary or Encyclopedia from the drop-down Type menu

• click Go

Keyword search example

You are searching for resources on global warming. However, you may retrieve more results by using the alternative term climate change, e.g.

• a Keyword search for global warming in the Catalogue will find over 250 titles

• a Keyword search for climate change finds over 500 titles

If you are actually interested in the economic effects of climate change, adding the term economics will narrow the search, e.g.

• type the keywords climate change economics

• the Catalogue will now search for all items with both terms

Searching with both terms in Advanced Search: climate change and economics

• this will result in fewer, more relevant titles

If you narrow your search too far, and do not get enough results, you need to broaden the search again:

• use climate change on its own

• you could also try some alternative keywords, e.g. climatic change, greenhouse effect, etc.

New books in the Library

To find new books on topics of interest, set up an RSS feed. These will:

• keep you informed about new items in the Library

• link you directly to the Catalogue record for any item that interests you

© 2008 UNSW Library developed by Service Development Unit, ISD | Copyright & Disclaimer | Last updated 07-Jul-2009 | Questions/Comments |