Start by finding broad overviews of your chosen commodity. These sources are good for background knowledge, keyword brainstorming, identifying important names, dates, and events, identifying various aspects of your topic, narrowing your topic, and finding other sources using the bibliographies presented at the bottom of entries.
- Gale Virtual Reference Library : Searches 100+ subject-specific encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc.
- Find Statistics Guide: Additional sites to find statistics and a search box to search the Web for statistics from .gov and .org sites only.
How to Generate Keywords
This interactive tool guides you through the process of creating an effective keyword search for your research topic and then allows you to email the results to yourself and/or your instructor. You can also launch the search in the Library Catalog (to find books) or Academic Search Complete (to find popular and scholarly articles)
This interactive tool guides you through the process of creating an effective keyword search for your research topic and then allows you to email the results to yourself and/or your instructor. You can also launch the search in the Library Catalog (to find books) or Academic Search Complete (to find popular and scholarly articles)
Narrow your results using these tips:
- Search for an exact phrase by putting your search terms in quotation marks (ex: “commodity chain”)
- Search only a specific site (ex: usda.gov) or domain (ex:.org) by typing in your search followed by site:.org, site:.gov (ex: coffee imports site:usda.gov)
- Eliminate results from a specific site (ex: .com) by typing in your search followed by -.com
Start here: www.lib.utexas.edu > Research Tools > Find Articles Using Databases
Multidisciplinary
Discipline-specific
Where is the Article?
If the articles isn't available in the database you are searching, follow.gif)
to see if it is available in another database or in print in the library.
Multidisciplinary
- Academic Search Complete and Academic OneFile : Magazine, journal and newspaper articles
Google Scholar : Use Google to search for scholarly books and articles. Access it through the Libraries web site so you are connected to the full text of items in the libraries' collections. - ScoUT : Search most, but not all, of the Libraries materials at once. After your initial search, use the limiters on the left side to narrow your search.
- JSTOR : Scholarly. Primarily retrospective, meaning few current articles.
- LexisNexis Academic : Newspaper articles from around the world.
Discipline-specific
- Business Source Complete - business articles, country reports and industry reports
- EconLit - economics journal articles
- Gender Studies Database - gender and women's studies journal article
Where is the Article?
If the articles isn't available in the database you are searching, follow
to see if it is available in another database or in print in the library.
- Searches books in all campus libraries
- To find a book on your topic, start with the Keyword search.
- When you find a good title, follow the subject headings for more books on the topic.
- Searches the full text of books provided by publishers and libraries.
- If you find a book you like and the full text isn't in GoogleBooks, search the Library Catalog for the title to see if we own it.
- Evaluate Books and Articles - this decision tree helps you evaluate scholarly and non-scholarly books and articles
- Evaluate Web Sites - use these criteria to evaluate web sites
- NoodleTools (NoodleBib) (formats bibliographies for you)
- Guide to Citing Sources
- All About Plagiarism tutorial
- Writing Center
Contact the course librarian:
Michele Ostrow
micheleo@austin.utexas.edu
495-4534
IM a Librarian
Monday-Thursday, 10am - midnight
Friday, 10am - 4pm
Sunday, 6pm - midnight
UGS Drop-in Research/Writing Labs: Get research help from Library Staff and writing help from Writing Center consultants. Just drop by PCL 1.339 in the basement of PCL during any of the following times:
Michele Ostrow
micheleo@austin.utexas.edu
495-4534
IM a Librarian
Monday-Thursday, 10am - midnight
Friday, 10am - 4pm
Sunday, 6pm - midnight
UGS Drop-in Research/Writing Labs: Get research help from Library Staff and writing help from Writing Center consultants. Just drop by PCL 1.339 in the basement of PCL during any of the following times:
- Thursday, November 8, 7pm – 9pm
- Wednesday, November 14, 11:30 – 1:30pm
- Tuesday, November 27, 7pm – 9pm
