Graduate Student Services: Research Hacks

Use Google Scholar to search for topics using natural language. Link Addlestone Library holdings in Google Scholar.

1. Go to Google Scholar, and click the three horizontal bars in the left corner to view the menu (for browser Chrome--if using another browser, look for settings).
2. Click the cog icon to see Settings.
3. Click Library links, and search for College of Charleston.
4. Check the box next to "College of Charleston Libraries.”
5. Click Save.

A View it @ CofC link will now appear next to select articles in your search results. Click on them to see if we have the articles in our collection. Note: Google Scholar includes books and book chapters as well as articles. The View it link won't work for these or for journal articles that are only available in print (not online).

Limit your search by Site or Domain

You can use Google to search on a specific site, like in this example: ukraine site:https://www.nytimes.com

You can also limit your search to domain (useful when searching for non-profits or for government reports).

Examples: 

disability research site:.org

infrastructure spending site:.gov

Make sure and use  filters to help refine your results.

When you start searching a database, add other databases helpful in your subject area. You can search multiple databases at once.

Use the database thesaurus (if available) to explore keywords and build your search.