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FYS Discovering Wisdom for a Lifetime

Helpful Online Resources

Tips for Effective Searching

Be persistent in your searching.

Try both keyword and subject searching

Narrow a search by using subject headings. Locate subject headings by looking at the descriptors associated with pertinent articles and books.

Try these tips to narrow your search.

Try synonyms (AIDS or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). Can't think of any synonyms? Try an online thesaurus. Try these tips to expand your search

Try both singular and plural forms of words (use a "+" sign in SocSciAbs to search both singular and plurals e.g. religion+). Use an "*" in Academic Search Premier to get a variety of word endings.

If searching a compound word, try it as one word and as two words (e.g. rain forest or rainforest) to see which retrieves the most useful results.

If searching a term with an internal dash, search the term in each database with and without the internal dash (e.g. x-ray vs. x ray) to see which retrieves the most useful results.

High Library QuickSearch


QuickSearch is a discovery tool that retrieves books, articles, media and more found in the High Library Catalog, databases, and digital collections. Use the facets on the left side of the results screen to narrow your search by publication type, language, date, topic and more.

interdisciplinary Databases

Psych and Sociology Databases

Medical/Health Databases

Historical and Current Newspaper Databases