UNST High School Senior Inquiry: Search for Sources
It's Time to Search!
Now that you have a plan for your research, including questions you want to find information about and keywords that you will use to search for that information, you can start collecting your sources. You can search through most of what Portland State University Library has through our online catalog. Below are some videos to help you get started with your searches. To begin, take a tour of the PSU Library Catalog.
Source Tracker
Search for Resources Tutorial
PSU Library Catalog
This 4 minute video provides a tour of the library catalog including how to search the catalog for different types of resources as well as use the built-in citation management tools.
Search Tips
Remember these search tips!
- Use Advanced Search for multiple search boxes. This will help you think strategically about building searches with your keywords
- Sign in to save what you find and pin sources (and searches!) to your eshelf
- An asterisk (*) will find different endings of a word. Example, employ* will search for employ, employment, employee, employer,
- Only type a few words, not a whole sentence
- Use synonyms, joined by OR, to get a more complete search
- Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase. Example, "fast food" or "convenience food"
- Use the left side limiters to narrow your search by resource type and date.
Developing Your Search
This 4 minute video gives tips on how to combine your keywords, or search terms, to get the best and most relevant results.