Home - ENGL U102 - Composition II - Keefauver - LibGuides at University of South Carolina Upstate

Important Links and Off-Campus Access

USC Upstate Library Home
Gateway to using the Library and its resources.
USC Upstate Library Off-Campus Access
Instructions on accessing library databases and electronic resources when off-campus.
USC Upstate Distance Learners Web Page
Are you a distance learner? You have access to the same resources and services that on-campus students have. You can even have physical library materials delivered to you if you live outside of Spartanburg County!

REVIEW: Search Strategies

Boolean logic - use AND, OR, NOT (sometimes AND NOT) to connect two or more search terms:

AND finds all records with all of your search terms and narrows your search
OR finds all records with one or more of your search terms and broadens your search
NOT or AND NOT is used to exclude the following term and can help to focus a search where one term has different meanings or uses (e.g., Mexico NOT "New Mexico")

Truncation - the library catalog and most databases use special characters to make searching easier in certain situations. Check the help screens in the catalog or database you are using to see what the special characters are for that resource.

the asterisk * is often used to stand for mutliple endings on a word (singular, plural, etc.): vot*finds vote, voter, voters
wildcards are similar, but replace another character in a word: wom?n in the library catalog finds both woman and women

It's important to know that the catalog uses subject headings to organize books. When you know the right subject headings for your topic, you can search more efficiently. A simple way to find them is to start with a keyword search. When you find an article title that meets your needs, look for the subject headings assigned to that article. In most cases, those subject headings are hyperlinked and will take you to a list of articles with the same subject heading.