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Search Strategies
- Develop a search statement to search databases (including news databases), Omni, and other academic sources
- A search statement includes a list of keywords, combined using Boolean Operators (AND; OR; NOT)
- AND - this will combine concepts, all of which must be found in your list of results
- media AND children
- OR - either this concept or that concept (or both). This is helpful for generating a list of synonyms. Use synonyms to anticipate the different ways different authors may refer to the same idea. A thesaurus can be helpful for this
- internet OR web OR online
- NOT - do not include this concept
- advertising NOT magazine
- Quote marks - find a specific phrase
- "net neutrality"
- Truncation - any other combination of letters to follow
- canad* - will find canada, canadian, canadian's, etc.
- journalis* - will find journalism, journalist, journalistic, etc.
- Combine one or more of these operators
- Put a list of synonyms in brackets
- AND - this will combine concepts, all of which must be found in your list of results
- For example, my topic is to investigate whether or not smartphones have a negative impact on society. My search statement might look something like this:
- (smartphone OR "mobile phone" OR "cell phone") AND (societ* OR cultur*)
Academic Sources (use Boolean Operators)
- Omni - for print books in the library and ebooks available online. Also lists journal titles, newspaper titles, games, movies...
- Communication and Mass Media Complete - primary database for communication literature
- Subject Guide for Communication - Welcome tab lists reference material like encyclopaedias and handbooks. Also have a look at the Journal Articles and Databases tabs
- Omni Advanced Search - the search box on the library's homepage: searches most databases and other resources simultaneously
Other Resources
- Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
- Statistics Canada
- Wire Report - covering Canada's telecom and media sectors
Custom Google Searches
- Government Information - Canadian or International
- Think Tank Search - search limited to think tanks dealing in public policy, including NGOs (non-governmental organizations)
- Tip: these custom searches cannot limit by date of publication, so try including a year in your search (i.e. "social media" 2015)
Newspapers (use Boolean Operators)
- Canadian Newsstream - Canadian
- Factiva - Canadian and international
- News Guide listing more news-related resources
Magazines and Trade Publications (use Boolean Operators)
- From your list of results, isolate source type by magazine and/or trade publication
Google.ca
- Searching Strategies
- site: - limits your search to a specific site
- site:carleton.ca
- filetype: - limits your search to a specific file type
- filetype:pdf
- filetype:ppt
- filetype:xls
- OR - ensure it is capitalized
- tv OR television
- quote marks for phrases
- site: - limits your search to a specific site
- For example:
- site:crtc.gc.ca filetype:pdf smartphone
- If you use Google Scholar, access it via our library
- this will connect you to resources we have access to, instead of prompting you to pay
Evaluating Your Sources
Citation and Bibliography
- Annotated Bibliographies (Purdue)
- Chicago Manual of Style: Author-Date System (Williams College Libraries)
- Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition (Purdue)
- The Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition Online (Carleton)
- Using Chicago Style (Carleton: Library Guide)