Library DIY Content: Find my sources

Choosing the most relevant search results

Choose Relevant Search Results

In order to tell if the search results are relevant to your topic, you need to look at the full record. Find the full record by clicking the title of the record in your search results.

For books, check for a table of contents or a summary. For articles, look for the abstract or a summary. If neither the table of contents or summary are available, then check the item or look for other details:

Title of article: Is it about your topic?
Date: Do you need current information on your topic?
Subjects: Are the subjects listed relevant to your topic?

This image shows the full record for an article. In addition to the title and author, other details include related subjects and notes.

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Deciding where to search

Decide Where to Search

Are certain sources required?
Look at whether the assignment specifies using peer reviewed articles, newspaper articles, data, books, or videos. The PSU Library catalog is the best research starting point.

Does your topic lend itself to a particular type of source?
Your research topic will have an impact on the kinds of sources that you will use. Not all topics are covered in scholarly articles or books. Current events are more likely to be covered in the news. The peer review process can take months, so recent research may not yet be available in a peer reviewed journal.

Who writes about your topic?
A topic like mass incarceration in the United States might be explored by scholars in sociology, law, criminal justice, public policy, psychology, or ethnic studies. Recommended sources for each discipline or subject are in the Subject Guides.

Guides for Different Types of Resources

Books - Use the PSU Library catalog.
Articles - Search the PSU Library catalo g or use the Subject Guides to find subject-specific article databases.
Primary Sources - Try the History and Historiography guide or go to the Finding Primary Sources guide.
Newspaper articles - Use the Finding Newspaper Articles guide.
Statistics or Data - PSU Library provides access to databases that contain statistics and datasets.
Government Information - Use these subject guides for your research: Government Information, US Government Information, Census Information, and Legal Resources.

Using what you've found to find more

Use What You have Found to Find More

For Books

If you find a relevant book in the catalog, select the Details tab to find information that lead to more books on the same topic. This image shows the Details tab for a book. Note the authors' names are hyperlinked and will lead to other items by the same others. Other hyperlinked details, like Subjects, will lead to more results about that topic.

Use Bibliographies and Reference List

Browse the bibliography or reference list at the end of a relevant book, article, or entry in a reference work. You can then search for these cited items in the PSU Library catalog. If the PSU Library does not have the book, you can request the book chapter by providing page numbers from Interlibrary Loan & Article Delivery.

Use Citation Information

Use the database, Web of Science, to find more information about the sources cited in an article related to the sciences. Web of Science has a Citation Network that is designed to connect you to articles that cited this research, as well as other related articles. This image shows an article in Web of Science; note the Citation Network on the right side of the screen.

Use Google Scholar to find out citation information about an item. The search results list in Google Scholar displays the title and some brief information about the item, including how many times it has been cited and any related articles.

This image shows an example search result in Google Scholar. Note the links at the bottom of the description, "Cited by 6" and "Related articles."

Watch this video, Using What You have Found to Find More, to see these skills in action.

Deciding what types of sources you need

Types of Resources

What types of resources are required by your professor for your assignment? Some professors require you to use scholarly peer-reviewed journals, primary sources, or newspapers. Here are different types of resources:

Scholarly article: Written by a scholar in the field that is reviewed by peers who are experts in the same field. In many databases, you can limit your search to scholarly articles or peer-reviewed journals.

Professional/trade article: Written by an expert or a professional in the field that is reviewed by an editor for style and content. The articles often do not contain reference lists or bibliographies. Examples include School Library Journal, Harvard Business Review, Engineering and Mining Journal, and American Biology Teacher.

Popular journals: Written by journalists and writers for a general audience, which go through a fact-checking process. Examples include The New Yorker, People, and Rolling Stone.

Primary source: An item that was created during the period studied. Examples include newspaper accounts, government documents, letters, diaries, autobiographies, speeches, oral histories, museum artifacts, television shows and movies, novels, and photographs.

Secondary source: A source that analyzes primary sources, such as a history of World War II based on records from the time.

What types of evidence will you need to answer your research question or make your case? Here are suggestions for specific types of resources for your research:

For scholarly research, use scholarly articles and books, along with statistical data
For public opinion, use newspapers, magazines, and websites
For eye-witness accounts, use newspapers, documentaries, and diaries
For a general overview of a topic, use scholarly subject encyclopedias
For information from professionals working in the field, use professional or trade journals

Finding theses and dissertations

Find Theses and Dissertations

Search the Library

If you are looking for theses and dissertations, search the PSU Library catalog. Use a keyword about your topic, along with the department. Secondary information like year, author, or title is also helpful. Use the filters on the left-hand side of the screen under "Resource Type" to narrow down to Dissertations & Theses.

This image shows a search for: stem education and case study. The option to narrow the Resource Type to Dissertations & Theses is highlighted on the left.

Search PDXScholar

PDXScholar, the Portland State University online repository, contains theses and dissertations written at PSU. Navigate to the Dissertations and Theses page from PDXScholar. From the Dissertations and Theses page, shown in this image, type in keywords to search for a topic, year, department, author, or title.

Search PSU Library Databases

Search the databases listed below to find theses and dissertations. You can do a basic keyword search, or search for a specific title or author. Search these databases for theses and dissertations written outside of PSU.

Dissertations and Masters Theses Global (ProQuest)
Maintains citations, abstracts, and full text of dissertations from 1997 to the present along with citations and abstracts for selected masters theses from 1962 to the present. Includes subject, title, and author indexing to U.S. dissertations from 1861 to the present.
Dissertations and Theses Open (PQDT Open)
This repository holds the full text of open access dissertations and theses. The authors of these dissertations and theses have chosen open access publication of their works, thus providing free access from the Internet.

If you find an abstract for a resource that is not available in full text, then request it through Interlibrary Loan & Article Delivery.

Finding Primary Sources

Search for Primary Sources

A primary source is an item that was created during the period being studied, and it documents in some way what is being studied. Examples of primary sources include speeches, diaries, newspapers, and personal accounts.

Additionally, primary sources can be contextual to the research, for example a television show like Game of Thrones could be a primary source for research about power relationships.

Search the Library Catalog

Go to the Library Catalog and look for primary sources on a certain topic by using the Advanced Search:

In the first search field, leave the menu on Any and then enter keyword(s) for your topic;
In the second search field, change the drop-down menu to Subject, then add the type of primary source.

This image shows a search for a memoir related to Paul West. Type the name and the word memoir in separate fields.

Choose multiple related topics by inserting a capitalized OR between them.

This image shows a search for "civil war" as a keyword phrase and correspondence OR diaries as the types of primary resources.

Search the Public Domain

If your topic is pre-1923, you can find primary sources that are in the public domain. Resources in the public domain are not under copyright protection and are usually available online for free. Google, HathiTrust, and the Digital Public Library of America have digitized documents from the world's major research libraries. The Chronicling America project at the Library of Congress has digitized American newspapers from 1836 to 1922.

Finding statistics

Search for Statistics

You can find statistics in newspaper articles and books, on websites, in library databases, and more. Here are some useful places to look for statistical sources.

Search the Library

The Library's statistics and data set resources include demographics, public opinion, consumer trends, health, crime and more along with provide local, state, national, and international information.
Subject Guides offer statistical and data sources in that subject area. When you are in a guide for a subject, look for a tab at the top with the label, Statistics or Data.
Government & Law Subject Guides have a number of statistical resources from the US government.
Library catalog holds books and articles with statistical information. In the Advanced Catalog Search, search for your topic, then limit the date range to the past 3, 5, or 10 years for recent information. Change one of the search options to search by Subject and type in statistics.

This image shows a search for housing statistics in the United States from the last 5 years. Note that the search is looking for the subject statistics.

Search the Web

There are statistical sources available on the Web. Use either the word statistics or data with your topic keywords, along with .gov, .org or, .edu to find reliable results.

This image shows a search on Google for statistics about carbon emissions. Arrows on the image point to results that vary between sponsored ads, governing bodies, and regulatory institutions.

Watch out for sponsored results that look like regular search results, like the British Petroleum (BP) advertisement in the image.
The other search results are from government (.gov) websites and organizations (.org).