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English 17 - Fall 2025 - Prof. Eubanks: Research Basics

Research Basics-Getting Started

Research basics for Professor Eubank's English 17 Class. This video covers topics, resources, brainstorming, and Boolean operators and gets you ready for searching the library databases.

Boolean Operators/Combination Searching

We use Boolean Operators to construct our search inquiries in library databases to find articles. I have the 3 major operators listed 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" 
       "Much Ado About Nothing" 
       "blank verse"

AND: To tell the database that these search terms must appear in your results and to help you narrow your search.
       Shakespeare AND "blank verse"
       "Much Ado About Nothing" AND  Criticism
       Facebook AND anxiety AND teens

OR: When you want to search for either term and help expand your search.
       "Much Ado About Nothing" AND criticism OR interpretation
       Shakespeare AND sonnets AND ("blank verse" OR "iambic pentameter")

     
**the parentheses (   ) you see above are optional. It is called 'nesting' and shows how the search is  grouped together.