WP115 Food for Thought (Stokes): Research Resources

Library Databases provide access to both popular and scholarly publications that are often not freely available on the open web.

General, interdisciplinary databases:

Look for an option to Choose Databases or Change Databases on your results page.

Select all. Check the database limiter to see which database is most useful for your topic.

List of all Colby's databases - use the Subject menu to find the best databases for your search

There's no need to limit your results to  FULL-TEXT. An article not available at Colby, can often be obtained in a matter of hours.  Find out more on the ILLiad guide.

Want to see if Colby has access to a particular magazine or journal?  On the Colby Libraries home page click on the "Journals and Articles" tab.  

Once the orange bar has moved down, enter the publication's name in the search box.

Articles in scholarly journals are particularly important to academic research. They:

• are written by and for scholars
• contain original research in a specific discipline
• include extensive citations
• typically contain peer-reviewed articles

Check with your instructor to see if peer-reviewed articles from scholarly journals are required.

If needed, look for ways in databases to filter your search.

OneSearch searches multiple library resources at once. Use only for very precise searches:

• Finding a specific article from a citation
• Finding information on lesser-known authors
• Finding book chapters
• Finding book reviews

For best results, use limiters. 

• Library Subject Guides
• English Guide
• Food Guide
• Citation Help
• Choose a Database
• Evaluate Sources
• Tips on Reading as you Research
• Search Strategy
• Video Tutorials

LIBRARY RESOURCES REQUIRE PRECISE SEARCHING

An ASTERISK stands in for different word endings:  critic* = criticism, critic, critics, critical)

QUOTATION MARKS  "glue together" a phrase: "food additives"

AND used between terms narrows results to items containing both terms: restaurant AND critic*

OR used between items (within parentheses) widens results to items containing any one of the terms:  (locavore* OR localvore* OR "local food movement")

SEARCH FOR NEW SEARCH TERMS. Library resources will only find the exact word entered.

Use keyword searches to find SUBJECT TERMS, which group material by topic.

• Food in Literature
• Food Social Aspects
• Food Moral And Ethical Aspects
• Local Food
• Food Writing, Food Writers
• Cooking - American

An Author Search (last name, first name) finds items BY AUTHORS.

A Subject Search of an author's name (last name, first name) finds items ABOUT AUTHORS.

Library resources are the best places to get access to published material and to find scholarly material.

However, Google can be a useful tool if used wisely.

Add Identifying Terms - Most important with common names and words. E.g. John Smith Chef. Try searching a writer's social media handle.

Add Format Terms - Words and phrases that help to focus your search (blogs, zines, podcasts, the names of magazines).

Use the News Tab and refine by date using Tools < Recent

Use Advanced OneSearch to get free access to articles found on the web that are behind paywalls. Enter the title of the article using Title drop-down.

Search by the domains .edu or .gov. using Goggle Advanced Search. These results can be more reliable.

EVALUATE EXTREMELY CAREFULLY - Investigate every source by doing separate searches of source creators, authors and publications. Every source you interact with is a conversation. With whom are you talking? What are their values and motivations? Are they trustworthy? Are they getting their information from reliable sources and interpreting evidence fairly and  intelligently? Who is the intended audience?

Know the Limitations of Web Searching - Most scholarly articles are either not found by search engines or are behind paywalls. Information is sorted and ranked according to commercial/consumer/popular considerations. Information is not vetted for accuracy or reliability.

Search for physical and digital books, films and other media in our library catalog.

A book of literary criticism can be by a single author or can be an edited anthology with chapters ("book articles") on different aspects of the book's general theme.

To identify SCHOLARLY BOOKS, investigate/examine the:

• author (university affiliation, research specialty)
• publisher (academic or university press)
• writing style & intended audience
• arguments, analysis, study methodology
• notes, references, bibliography

PRINT: Look at the location and call number. Most Colby owned books related to literature can be found on the two bottom floors of the Miller Library book stacks. Order books from Bates, Bowdoin and the Colby Annex by clicking CBB Request in an item record.

DIGITAL: look for a small circular red E in the icons to the left of your results . .

Or use the drop-downs on the CBBcat search page, for a more precise search.

• Provide helpful overviews
• Help you identify search terms
• Allow topic exploration

Book by Lalena Jaramillo, 2011, Flickr(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Cambridge World History of Food