Strategy for Researching

Agriculture Literature

 


Step 1.

Do preliminary research for a basic understanding of your topic, and if necessary, to find geographic names to search. Use encyclopedias and atlases and other resources. See Guide to Library's print resources.

Step 2.

In one sentence write your research topic.

For example: waste management on dairies in New England

Step 3.

Pick out key terms/concepts/phrases from the sentence.

1. waste management 2. dairies 3. New England

Step 4.

Combine terms/concepts/phrases with the Boolean operator “and”.

For Example:  waste management and dairies and New England

Step 5

Apply search to one of the literature databases and indexes listed on the Agricultural Sciences Resources page, http://www.csuchico.edu/lref/guides/rbs/ag.htm, found under the category "Periodicals/Journals: Indexes & Articles"

Step 6.

Expand your search with truncation and the Boolean operator  “or”. 

·          When truncation is used you will find all words beginning with the word/letters in front of the truncation symbol.  Many databases use an asterisk, *.  For example: dair* finds dairy and dairies   For a list of truncation symbols for various databases see the Database Command Guide.       

·          Use “or” between synonymous and related terms or phrases. You can find such terms in dictionaries & thesauri, or from your teacher.  Try www.dictionary.com or www.thesaurus.com  for online help, or use the library's print resources listed at Guide to Library's print resources. For scientific names, i.e. Family, Genus, or Species, try the Intergrated Taxanomic Information System at www.itis.usda.gov. Use atlases for synonymous and related geographic terms.

Always enclose “or” statements with parentheses.         

For Example:   (waste management or waste control or pollution control or pollution management)

 

Our new expanded search may now look like this:

                       

(waste management or waste control or pollution control or pollution management) and dair* and (New England or Maine or New Hampshire or Vermont or Massachusetts or Connecticut or Rhode Island)

Step 7.

Apply revised search to Agriculture literature databases & indexes.

 

 

Note: If the library does not have the item(s) found in your literature search, you can acquire the item(s) through interlibrary loan (ILL), http://www.csuchico.edu/library/ill. Note the ILL option at the top of the right column of the library’s home page, www.csuchico.edu/library

 

If you still do not have enough information to write your paper, contact the agriculture librarian, Rich Soares, 214 Meriam Library, 898-6882, rsoares@csuchico.edu

 

Or catch him at the Reference Desk, 2nd Floor. Call the desk for his hours: 898-5833.

          

   rs 10/03