Skip to Main Content

GEOL 355: Structural Geology and Tectonics

Geology Databases

Database-Specific Search Strategies

GeoRef Search Strategies

Find Peer-Reviewed Literature

  1. Go to the Advanced Search screen.
  2. Enter your keywords.
  3. Beside "Limit to," check the box that says "Peer reviewed."
Peer reviewed option

 

 

Find Literature Within a Specified Time Frame

  1. Go to the Advanced Search screen. 
  2. Enter your keywords.
  3. Beside "Publication date," click the drop-down menu and select the desired time frame of the literature.

Publication date option

 

 

Find Gray Literature

  1. Go to the Advanced Search Screen. 
  2. Enter your keywords.
  3. Under "Document type," select the type(s) of document you wish to retrieve. These may include "conference document," "report,"or "thesis or dissertation."

 

GeoScienceWorld Search Strategies

Find Literature Within a Specified Time Frame

  1. Go to the Advanced Search screen.
  2. Enter your keywords.
  3. Under "Date Range and Publication," enter the specified start and end date. 

Date range and publication option

 

 

 

Find Gray Literature

  1. Go to the Advanced Search Screen. 
  2. Enter your keywords.
  3. Under "GeoRef Document Type," select the type(s) of documents you wish to retrieve. These can include "conference document," "report," or "thesis or dissertation."

General Search Strategies

  • Keywords represent the main concepts of your research topic.
  • To select keywords:
    • Identify the main concepts of your topic.
    • Brainstorm synonyms that could also be used to describe your topic.
    • Spell out abbreviations.
  • It's rare that your first search will bring back perfect results. It takes trial and error to determine the best keywords, so be prepared to run multiple searches.
  • Put phrases in "quotation marks"
  • Only brings back results that have the words next to each other
    • Example: If you search mountain ranges, the database will retrieve articles that mention mountains and articles that also mention ranges, but not necessarily the term mountain ranges. However, if you search "mountain ranges," the database will retrieve results where the word "mountain" is next to the word "ranges" in the articles.
  • Officially known as Truncation
  • Search for all possible endings
  • Use an asterisk (*)
  • For example: Mountain* searches for
    • Mountain
    • Mountains
    • Mountainous
    • Mountaineering
  • The words AND, OR, NOT are used to combine or exclude keywords in the search, resulting in more focused and productive results.
  • AND: Requires both keywords to be searched. If an article contains one keyword but not the other, that article is not included in the results.
    • Narrows the search
  • OR: Requires either keyword to be searched. Any article that contains at least one of the keywords will be included in the results.
    • Broadens the search
  • NOT: Requires the first keyword to be searched, then any articles containing the second keyword will be subtracted from the results.
  • Use parentheses ( ) to enclose search strategies.
  • Search engines deal with search statements within the parentheses first, then apply any keywords that are not enclosed.

Theses and Dissertations