Google provides a number of useful tools to up your search game. For instance, to exclude a word use the minus sign (e.g. jaguar -car). You can also use some of the same advanced search techniques useful in library databases such as using quotation marks to search for a phrase, or using the * as a wildcard to take the place of any word.
However, Google will try to target the results of a search to the profile it has created for you. Don't passively let Google paint you into a corner! Try searching in a private/incognito window, editing your Google profile, adjusting your search settings, or targeting your search to a particular site or domain (e.g. site:.gov).
For more information, check out what Google has to say:
Several history faculty share this quote on their term paper assignments:
"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." - Francis Bacon
As the books for your thesis pile up to towering heights, don't get overwhelmed. Use each book only as it's constructive to.
In some books you only read one chapter, others maybe only a page or two. Still other titles you consult only for the bibliographies. This is ok and expected.
Shelf browsing in the library stacks is irreplaceable. Based on catalog searching, identify in what areas of the library books related to your topic are shelved; there will likely be a few locations. Plan to spend at least an hour there. You will always find something browsing that eludes you during catalog searching. Serendipty is an important friend to a researcher. Shelf browsing means take books off the shelves, look at their table of contents and index to assess their potential value to you. Take notice if it uses footnotes or endnotes. Most scholarly books have notes and a bibliography. A good bilbiography organizes its references into archival sources (you must visit the archive to read) and published sources (you can request through InterLibrary Loan if Vassar does not have it).
A rule of thumb: read book matter we usually consider superfluous. A scholarly book's acknowledgements and preface may include important mention of another scholar or a particular archive or source base. When working with any archival collection, on microfilm, in a database or in an archive, always read the guide, content notes or finding aid. That information is more than just an encyclopedic overview, it includes contextual information for using and understanding the sources.
Research is iterative and repetitive, and like writing, requires editing. You will not necessarily "use" every book or article you read (although you will include them in your bibliography). After finding a first round of sources, expect to go back through the process using a new wave of keyword terms and ideas. Do more shelf browsing and book scanning, search the catalog and article databases again. When you start seeing only the same things over and over, you can feel a bit assured you've done the literature review work.
The theses of some departments and programs, written prior to 2006, are available in the Archives and Special Collections library. Search in the library catalog using Advanced Search. Enter the name of the department as your keyword search, e.g. biology. Select "Archive/SpecColl (Thesis)" from the Location drop down menu.
For theses not in the library (which is most of them), inquire in the academic department or program for which they were written.
Before you begin searching for primary sources, ask yourself: What types of sources are most likely to contribute perspective on my topic?
Newspapers and magazines, personal narrative sources like memoirs and letters, government documents, the papers of organizations, scholarly journals of the historical period (ask a librarian and your advisor about how to handle a "scholarly article" as a primary source?) You will search for different types of sources using different techniques.
Use the Advanced Search screen in Vassar Library Catalog to:
* place limits on your search by location. language or document type. Limiting to Microtext is one way of perusing some of Vassar's primary sources.
* do "Subject" searches. The Subject search of the Advanced Search will look for keywords ONLY in the Subject fields of catalog records. Knowing the vocabulary used in the subject searches will help you do effective searches of library collections. For example, Library of Congress Subject Headings use the following keywords to indicate primary sources: sources, letters, interviews, speeches, personal narratives, diaries, correspondence, sermons, notebooks, sketches, description and travel, treaties, pamphlets, biography (includes memoirs), newspapers, periodicals, pictorial works, art, architecture, portraits, caricatures and cartoons, cookery, decorative arts, furniture, material culture, guide books, maps, fiction, poetry, periodicals, newspapers, bibliography, early works to 1800 It's not a perfect system, but an effective technique. Example search: (united states women) AND (sources or correspondence)
* find Reference sources like encyclopedias and historical dictionaries by limiting to "Reference" instead of "View Entire Collection. Never underestimate how helpful these sources are in establishing historical context, suggesting keywords, identifying related people/events/places for your topic and providing bibliographies of important primary or secondary sources
* identify digital collections of primary sources. Some of the digital primary sources that appear in our catalog are from unique databases that are more effectively searched in their native interface. If you find some digital sources in our catalog that you are interested in finding more of, ask a librarian.
If you need to visit another library or archive for your thesis research ALWAYS CALL AHEAD and speak with a librarian or archivist to plan your visit. You want to confirm that you will be given access to the library and to the resources you are going there to see. You might need to make an appointment, bring a letter of introduction, or do some other special requirement for access.
In WorldCat, if you click "Libraries worldwide that own this item" you will see a list of libraries who own the item, presented in geographical order based on their distance from Vassar. If you cannot borrow an item through InterLibrary Loan, you can go look at it in person. If you have any InterLibrary Questions, don't hesitate to email ILL@vassar.edu. The office is in main library and they will respond quickly.
If ILL cancels your request and you have questions about why, contact your Liaison Librarian for help. Often it's because of an incomplete citation or because the material is non-circulating or archival material at the library who owns it.
Find the digital library website at the institution where archives are held. They may have digitized material you want to consult.
One way to explore the scholarly conversation on a topic is to create a citation "chain" or "web." When you find a solid article on your topic, you can use that article as a jumping in point by looking at two things: the article's references (moving backwards on the chain) and articles that have cited your original article (moving forward on the chain). For every interesting article you find in this way, look at the references and citing articles of this new article. In this way, you can follow the scholarly conversation in both directions creating a chain of articles by their citations.
Using Web of Science or Scopus, find the article that you are interested in. Although the interfaces differ slightly, you will find information about citing articles in the right-hand column.