All Guides: COMM19999: Essential Communications: Search the Library

Search the Library

Learn how to Search the Library to find academic sources. In this video, Kathleen covers search strategies and helpful tools.

How to Generate Search Words
Build a strong search string using this interactive site to guide you through the process of identifying your keywords from your research question. Designed by the University of Texas at Austin Library.

Search the library by entering your search words in the search box below:

Searching a specific database can be helpful too. Each database has a unique collection of sources and unique search tools.

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Includes over 600 encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, and other reference books, as well as images, audio files and videos. Covers most academic topics. A great place to find definitions, identify important people, places, and dates, and get a general overview of your topic.
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
A huge database with all types of publications -- magazines, newspapers and scholarly journals. Use the filters to narrow your results.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Our largest scholarly journal database. Includes over 8500 full-text journals from a wide variety of academic disciplines.

How to use AND and OR (2:51)
A short video about using AND and OR to search more effectively.
Phrase Searching (1:00)
A short video on how to use phrases when searching databases.