Focus on The Things They Carried: Databases

• Use keywords in library databases instead of sentences and questions. Use the Keyword worksheet to plan and focus your research.
  • When searching the library catalog or one of TCC's literary databases, try a search for your topic keyword(s) along with "Frank McCourt" or "Angela's Ashes" For example: ("Religion" AND "Frank McCourt") or ("Poverty" AND "Angela's Ashes"). Try several variations to maximize the number of relevant results. 
• To look for an exact phrase, type your phrase within quotation marks ("  "). The results will contain the exact words in the quotation marks.
• Use an asterisk (*) at the end of a root word, known as truncation, to retrieve results containing any form of the root word.
  • Example: teen* will find teens, teenage, teenager, teenagers
• Use filters to refine your results by subject terms/topics, date, type of publication, language, peer-reviewed, etc.
• Some databases use Boolean Operators. Narrow or expand your search by combining keywords using  AND / OR / NOT operators, as shown below.

VIEW A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL TCC LIBRARY DATABASES