Skip to Main Content

ENG 1A - Fall 2023: Prof. Converse: Research Basics

Research Basics-Getting Started

Research basics for Professor Converse's English 1A Class. This video covers topics, resources, brainstorming, and Boolean operators and gets you ready for searching the library databases.

Prezi from Library Presentation in Class

Boolean Operators/Combination Searching

In class I showed you 3 Boolean operators to help you with your searching in our databases. I have them below with examples. Remember to keep your search terms simple to keywords that relate to your subject of your research.

Quotation Marks: To search multiple worded search terms together.
       "Monterey Peninsula College" 
       "social media" 
       "The Great Conversation"

AND: To tell the database that these search terms must appear in your results and to help you narrow your search.
       Manjoo AND "Post-Fact Society"
       "The Great Conversation" AND Adler 
       Facebook AND anxiety

OR: When you want to search for either term and help expand your search.
       "social media" OR Facebook
       "The Great Conversation" AND (Hutchins OR Adler)