Choosing the right kind of database at the beginning can make your research more efficient and ensure you use a variety of sources.
These search strategies can help you in any database you use. Using the right keywords can affect how relevant your results are.
Strive for a list of results that is manageable so you can look through them all. If you have an overwhelming number of results, try revising your search by changing or adding keywords or applying different limiters. Revising your search might also mean trying a different database.
It's best to start your search with the main idea(s) of your thesis statement. For related keywords, look to your assignment description.
Here are two examples:
Monsters as Mirrors of Society
Monsters and Gender Roles
As you develop your specific thesis statement, you'll include those main ideas as well, especially as it relates to the movie you're examining.
Providing coverage of the most searched and studied people, Gale In Context: Biography is built on a foundation of more than 650,000 biographical entries covering international figures from all time periods and areas of study. It offers authoritative reference content alongside, videos, audio selections, images, primary sources, and magazine and journal articles from hundreds of major periodicals and newspapers. Search for people based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender, as well as by keyword and full text. Includes over 4,500 portal pages on contemporary and historical figures. Continuously updated to ensure users have access to the very latest information.
Communications and Mass Media brings together information found in hundreds of journals. Articles cover all aspects of the communications field, including advertising, public relations, linguistics, and literature, meet the needs of researchers.
Full-text database that includes scholarly journals in the humanities as well as images from the Artstor collections
Study significant periods in American history through a timeline-based interface. Complete editions from hundreds of U.S. newspapers provide primary source content covering eras such as the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, Roaring Twenties, Great Depression, World War II, Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, Information Age and more.
Popular Culture Studies provides access to scholarly journals and magazines that both analyze and contribute to popular culture. The database offers useful information for researchers in social science, history, art or liberal arts courses.
Academic Search Complete is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals.
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