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UGS 303: American Teenagers - Crosnoe

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Find Articles on a Topic

Single articles on a topic are found in our library databases.  The UT Libraries pay to have access to these databases and the articles they contain.

You can search in databases that are multidisciplinary or subject-specific:

 

Type of Database About Start Here

Multidisciplinary

  • Include popular and scholarly articles on all topics
  • Useful if scholars from multiple disciplines would write about your topic or if you don't know where to start
  • Great for assignments in UGS and other undergraduate courses where you may only need a few sources

 

Articles and More - Advanced Search

 

Subject-specific

  • Include scholarly and specialized articles from a specific discipline
  • To choose a database, think about what department on campus would have scholars researching your topic, then use the "All Subjects" dropdown menu on the databases page to find that department. (ex. PsycINFO for Psychology topics)

See the subject-specific list below

OR

Databases List (use the "All Subjects" dropdown menu)

Learn more about databases with the video in the right column.

See search examples on the second tab in this box, "Keywords and Database Searching"

Searching databases is different than searching in Google. You have to distil what you're looking for into a few key terms or phrases, rather than whole sentences. You also have to think of different ways to say those key terms, because different writers will refer to the same concept using different terms. To turn your topic into keywords or search terms, use this tool, or:  

  1. Write down your topic and underline the main concepts (ex. How racially/ethnically diverse is UT-Austin and is the current diversity enough?)
  2. For each main concept, brainstorm a few synonyms and related terms that get at that concept:
    • The first key concept will likely be in common for everyone on this topic, but the second and third will be different, background information can help with determining what to search for. 
    • Key Concepts 

      Diversity Education Perspectives on diversity
      Related Terms

      Race

      Multiculturalism

      Affirmative action

      ethnicity

      UT Austin

      Higher Education

      University

      Student body

       

      Parents

      Students

      administrators

      professors

      attitudes

      perceptions

      benefits

      drawbacks

  3. Combine key terms using AND and OR:​​
    • AND narrows your search by looking for articles with all of the words (your two or three key concepts should be connected with AND, because you need all of them represented in useful articles). 
    • OR broadens your search by looking for articles with any of the words (synonyms and related terms should be separated by OR - they get at the same key concepts, so any of them are useful).
  4. Try different combinations of your keywords to get better results as you search:

 

Databases

Multidisciplinary

Subject-Specific

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What are databases?

This video, from RMIT University, explains what a database is...

Where's the Article?

If you don’t see a .pdf of the article you want, click FIND IT AT UT to find it in another database or in print in the Libraries.

If it is only in print in the Libraries or we don’t own the article, click GET A SCAN to have the article emailed to you. This option will take a few days.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Generic License.