We've recently improved OneSearch! The following tutorial will show you how to navigate the library's resources including books and eBooks.
Advanced Google Searching
Google offers many search techniques to help refine results, similar to what can be done in a library database. For example:
Enclose keywords in quotes to search an exact phrase: "san fernando valley"
Enclose in parentheses and separate with OR to retrieve any of those keywords in the results: (csun OR "california state university northridge")
Add a minus sign to remove webpages containing a keyword or phrase: -parking
Limit search to specific website: site:.calstate.edu
Limit search to specific domain: site:.gov
Limit results by date of last update: From the results screen, click Search Tools and select time period from the Anytime menu
Get definitions or explanations of terms: define keyword/phrase, i.e., define "fiscal cliff"
Watch the Advanced Google Searching video for more help.
See also: Web Search Help for more tips and tricks for searching Google
More Search Engines
Google Scholar - (searches scholarly journals and other academic sources.)
Google Products - (Google offers many productivity tools as well as other specialized search engines.)
SearchEngineWatch - (There's more to searching the Internet than Google! This is a comprehensive directory of search engines by type.)
Boolean Operators are used to connect two, or more, keywords together as a way to narrow or expand your search results.
AND - narrows your topic; only results with the terms 'women' and 'media' found in the title, subject heading or description will be shown.
OR - expands your topic; useful when you want to add to your results; this terms works well when using synonyms as keywords.
NOT - removes results; if your keyword can be defined in multiple ways. For example, 'image' can mean pictures but it could also be related to body image or self-esteem.
For a comprehensive list of databases from which to start your research, visit the Criminology & Justice Studies page.
