Library Search Strategy Tutorials

1. Type “fvtc library” into a web browser.
2. Go to FVTC website
   • Scroll down to the bottom and select Library link.
   • Click on [Library Resources] to get to our Library Home Online
3. From CURRENT STUDENTS or STAFF > scroll down to the Library button.

SAVE TIME! Bookmark or pull shortcut to desktop for Library Home page https://library.fvtc.edu/start

Search using Ebsco Discovery Quick Search for FVTC 

Search

• Unlimited Search includes items you will need to order through interlibrary loan.
• Select FVTC catalog to find items you can borrow. (Overdrive digital books, audio books on CD, print books, magazines, etc..)
• Select full text to get digital items immediately available
  • If you do not like results then revise search
  • If you think the results look good: 
    • Select peer-reviewed if you need research grade articles.
    • Limit date range.
    • Scan Abstract
• If you like an article then open detailed record.  Click email icon and send copy to your email. 
• Broaden search by adding synonyms, or removing limits.
• Narrow search by looking at article subject tags
  • click subject tag to create DEscriptor search; MM for medical MeSH terms.
  • add peer-reviewed journals;
  • limit your date range. 
  • add more limits or ask a Librarian for assistance.

Return to email item or search again.

Citation Suggestions:

Many Database resources now provide citation suggestions for items you find in your search. 

You will need to ask your teacher if this is good enough or if you need to check it with a current style manual. Remember, only one style per paper.

BEFORE YOU START YOUR RESEARCH:

•  Read your syllabus to make sure you know what is required for the assignment.
• You wouldn't believe the number of times students have found 20 articles but only needed 5!

When you go to our library website

You can use Ebsco Discovery Quick Search for FVTC to search multiple databases: Ebsco, Gale, Films on Demand, etc. to find articles, books, videos etc. 

Start broad: use synonyms OR special vocabulary for the field.

• Start with fewer terms if you are not using OR operator. 
•  Each word added is a limit because the basic search will give you only the items with all the words you are using.
• Many times, you will get more results than you want.

Narrow with Limits.

• Full Text

• Limit (or not) to peer-reviewed articles: 

  • Limit to peer-reviewed if you are doing research.   (Reviewed by experts in the field before publication.)
  • Unselect Peer-reviewed if you are looking for other formats like videos, e-books, catalog of printed books, etc.
  • If you are looking for best practices, don't limit to peer-reviewed; you will miss trade magazines. (Post-publication peer-review.)

• Limit date range:

  • For many topics you will want to limit date range to last 5 or fewer years.
  • In some subject areas or fields, the date range needs to be wider.
  • You can de-select date range

Give yourself time to play around with different search strategies.

When in doubt, feel free to Ask a Librarian!

Searching by Title or by Author Makes Search Narrower.

•  keyword              (default)
•  title                     Use pull-down menu or TI added first, then terms
• author                 Use pull-down menu or AU added first, then author name

Another way to limit your search is using Filter by Format. 

NOTE: If you select "Peer-Reviewed" the database search will automatically limit you to articles. You need to unselect Peer-reviewed if you are looking for other formats.

Log into Library resource databases the same way you log into your email; using your active MyFVTC ID-number and password. 

• Lock icon   = login with MyFVTC credentials.
• Off Campus Access Help Guide is at https://library.fvtc.edu/OCA
• Note:  Sometimes the email will be sent to your junk mail. Change status to “Not Junk”. 

Where to store your research results:

• To make my research easier to collect and re-search, I put a  topic folder in my email and send results to my email.
• When the topic is no longer relevant, I can delete the folder.

How to get useful links you can email to yourself.

• Sometimes the browser field has a re-usable URL... sometimes it has a dynamic URL that is one-time-use only.
• You need to look for a permanent link option, or if you suspect the browser link is reusable, test it by sending an email to yourself with the link.

Accessing subscription based articles from your email:

• FVTC Library buys subscriptions that can only be accessed off campus with an active MyFVTC account. 
• You need a link with a "proxy prefix" of  https://login.applibproxy.fvtc.edu/login?url=attached to the permanent link to prompt the pop-up login box for EzProxy to appear. Once you login (like logging into FVTC email) you can use the resources the Library pays for off campus. 

In an Advanced Search:

Use asterisk character [*] When you use that [*] at the end of a word root, it searches all the different endings.

Use  Boolean Operators:

Narrow or Limit search strategy with an AND operator or a NOT operator. (pet AND dog) NOT (positron emission tomography) 

Increase or Broaden search using OR operator. (dog OR canine OR puppy)

Use Field Selectors:

If you select Title from the pull-down menu, that means that only the Title field will be searched. 

If you select Subject from the pull-down menu, that means that only the Subject or tag field will be searched. 

We do not usually search by ISBN because each format, whether it's soft cover or hardcover, has its own ISBN number. And, it does not give you all of the different years that may be available at our library. Sometime a previous edition is usable.

When you find a title of interest and click on it, you will get the detailed record.

• Inside the detailed record, you will see subject terms  (human applied tags). 
• If those tags are hyperlinked, clicking them runs a search on that tag.
  • DE - descriptive search
  • MM -  Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)  term search MM “MESH Subject” 

You can use EBSCO Discovery Service to limit by database.

After you search your topic, on the results page:

• Go to the Filter by Database at the base of the left-hand column of limits.
• Click Show More.
• Select  Films On Demand to pull up the videos that had the terms that you had placed in the search.
• Then click on the Films On Demand link to get to your video.

Another way to get to Films On Demand or other databases is to select the Resources A-Z on our home page, then scroll down the alphabetical list to the database of interest.

Once you're in Films On Demand and you can do a search in their basic search and then add filters.

• I recommend looking at the last five years.
• You can also go to an advanced search, but make sure you only have one term in each field.
• If you have questions, ask a librarian.