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ELRL6250: Adolescent and Adult Literacy and Curriculum Design: Finding Articles

General Search Tips

All databases will give you the option of limiting your search to Scholarly or Peer Reviewed articles.

Do not check the Full-Text only box. This will limit you to only the full-text available in THAT database, not to the extensive list of journals that are available from the Cheng Library.

If your topic is too broad, you'll get too many articles (over 500).

If you get too few or no results, check your spelling, or use related seach terms, e.g. instead of grade 12, try secondary education.

Look at the descriptors or subject terms to identify appropriate search terms.

Use the term, and, to narrow your search, e.g. computers and instruction.

Use the term, or,  with related terms to broaden your search, e.g. computers or technology.

Avoid using complete sentences or prepositional phrases in the search box.

Different databases use different search terms. You may need to adjust your search terms as you move from one database to another.

If you are working on a major research project, keep a search journal recording the databases you used, the search terms you tried, and the success of the search. This can keep you from repeating an unsuccessful search.

 

Find Articles about Education Topics

Here are links and brief descriptions of the Library databases that can be used to find articles about education.

Scholarly v. Popular

When conducting research, you will usually be asked to find Scholarly Articles, or artices from a Scholarly Journal, rather than popular sources (like magazines and newspapers).

Not sure what the difference is between scholarly and popular?  Check out this short tutorial: Scholarly v. Popular

  Have a Question? Contact a Librarian:

By phone

Call 973-720-2116

The Reference Desk is staffed until 10PM Sunday-Friday and until 8:00pm on Saturday.

By e-mail

Send your question to the Reference Desk via email - refdesk@wpunj.edu   Allow 24 hours for a response. 

Schedule a Research Appointment

Contact the library for an appointment with a Reference Librarian: Schedule Research Help