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Searching for Articles & Using Databases

Sorting Your Results

There are many reasons to sort the results of your search differently. Sorting can save time and energy when browsing through your results for the best materials. Drag and drop the sort options into the reasons that are listed.

Using Those Results

Studying the results of any search you perform is a great way of finding more relevant keywords, removing irrelevant terms, and looking for additional resources in article bibliographies.  You can also follow author names to see if they have written more on this subject and what authors they have cited.

Limiting your results

Have you ever shopped online, and had to limit your results to find something in your size and favorite color? You were using a limiter!

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With databases, limiters allow you to refine your search by date, material type, subject, location, and more. They are usually located in the advanced search, or on the left-hand side of your results page.

Databases have many options that can help refine your search.

  • Material types such as peer-reviewed journal, magazine, newspaper, or Conference Proceedings
  • Year or range of years of publication
  • Subject (or Topic)
  • Journal Title
  • Language
  • Geography

Limiting a search can be done at the beginning of your search or after your search, depending on the situation.  There are good reasons for both methods.Try it out--see how your results change!