In addition to searching the research databases listed here, you may also want to try searching in specific subject specific journals. Search Holy Cross' EJournal list here.
Examples of specific journals:
Journal articles, working papers, conference proceedings and other publications dealing with political science and international relations.
Journal articles, book chapters and magazines about the history of the United States and Canada, 1450-present.
Journal articles from law reviews and other law-related journals.
Journal articles, magazines, and news in almost every subject area.
Journal articles, magazines, and news in almost every subject area.
Spend some time brainstorming keywords and search terms. Use subject headings or descriptors to help generate search terms.
When you find a good article, look at its References or Works Cited list. That will often lead you to other useful sources.
If you see an article you'd like to read but you don't see a PDF for the article, click on the purple "Check for Full Text" button. This will open a new window that will allow you to see if HC has access to the article through another database. If HC doesn't have access, try searching Google Scholar (more info about Google Scholar on the first page of your class guide). If you aren't able to get the full text there, you can order the article through Interlibrary Loan.
Do you have an article citation, but need to find the full-text article? Three Steps to Finding the Full Text Article:
1. Check the EJournals List by searching for the name of the Journal name (not the article title) in the "Find" box. If the journal comes up in your results, look at the years of coverage to make sure that the library has the year you are looking for. If yes, click on the link for the journal and then scroll to the volume you need or search within the journal for the article.
2. If you aren't able to find the journal in the Electronic Journal list, check CrossSearch to find the journal in print by searching for the name of the journal (not the article title). If the journal comes up in your results, look at the years of coverage to make sure that the library has the year you are looking for. If yes, copy down the call number so that you'll be able to locate the journal in the stacks.
3. If you can't get the article in print or online, order the article through InterLibrary Loan.
Try exploring the Holy Cross library catalog for books related to your topic. If Holy Cross does not have a book you need, you can use WorldCat to search for books from other libraries and then request these books through Interlibrary Loan.
Search tip: Search for books by either Keywords or Subject Headings. Start with a Keyword search and identify some relevant books. Then look at the subject headings for those books. You can follow the subject heading links in the catalog to find similar books, or you can use the terms in the subject headings to identify other keywords to try.
Example Subject Headings:
Science -- Social aspects.
Science -- Philosophy.
Postal service -- United States -- History.
Communication -- Social aspects -- United States.
Information storage and retrieval systems -- Technological innovations.
Computers and civilization.
Technology -- Social aspects.
Technology -- Social aspects -- United States.
Technology -- Social aspects -- United States -- History.
Science -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
United States -- Intellectual life -- 1783-1865.
United States -- Intellectual life -- 1865-1918.
Depending on your research topic, you'll find books located in different call number ranges. For books about American history, you'll find many books have call numbers starting with E. Many books about technology are located in the Science Library and have call numbers beginning with T. The H call number range has books about the social sciences, including books about communications which usually have call numbers beginning with HE.