Skip to Main Content

Research Step 3: Find (Search Strategies)

Search for books and/or articles using the library resources

Searching for Articles

Users may access OneSearch via our main QC Libraries webpage -- Quick Links -- OneSearch. Once on OneSearch, you may search for articles by title or keyword. For example: How Important is Parental Education for Child Nutrition?

 

Note: Searching by exact title should place your article in the first or first few items. You may filter to peer-reviewed articles, Resources Type, publication date, etc. Then select the Available Online option to be taken to the record.

If off-campus, you will need to sign into proxy using your CUNY Credentials firstname.lastnameNN@cuny.login.edu. For more information, please review the Remote Access FAQ. Once you do so, you should be taken to the article.

 

Questions?

If you do not know the title of an article, search by search terms by utilizing the  Advanced Search Feature of OneSearch. Example: Parental Education AND Child Nutrition. Type the terms into the Advanced Search box and filter to Articles or date.

Your search will retrieve results as shown below and you can select the Available Online link to be taken to  the article. The filter on the left can also be used to narrow your searches.

If you are accustomed to using Google Scholar to search for articles, then we recommend that you use the Queens College Libraries' proxied Google Scholar. This will expand the results you retrieve. You will have access to freely available articles online and articles that the library owns and/or subscribes to.

Getting started with Google Scholar

  • Select the link provided on our A-Z Database List
  • You will be prompted to log into the library's proxy using your CUNYCredentials - firstname.lastnameNN@cuny.login.edu. For more information, please review the Remote Access FAQ. For this particular article, the option to download as a PDF is on the top right.

Once on Google Scholar, you may begin searching for articles by title or keyword. For example: Evidence-based interventions for improvement of maternal and child nutrition: what can be done and at what cost?

  1. Select the Full Text at QC Link on the right
  2. This will bring you to our catalogue, OneSearch

  1. There you may select from one of the listed options.You may need to sign-into our proxy once again if you are timed out.
  2. Once you sign-in, you will be able to access the article.
  3. In some instances, you may be taken directly to the article. This varies by collection and vendor.

Questions?

Known Issues with Google Scholar

If you see the following error message when you try to access Google Scholar via the A-Z Database List, it is because Google sometimes blocks access via libraries' proxy server. Google does not provide information when this happens and often times the situation resolves itself. Access on campus should not be affected.

We recommend taking the following steps should you encounter this issue:

  • Access Google Scholar via the un-proxied version: https://scholar.google.com/
  • From the Menu Icon on the Top Left select Settings then Library Links
  • In Library Links, search for Queens College. Select "Queens College --> Fulltext at QC"
  • SAVE and return to the Google Scholar Homepage.
  • You should then be able to search for articles.
  • Please review the FAQ on logging into the library proxy.

Questions?

How to Retrieve Full-Text Articles from PubMed that are not freely available?

  • PubMed is a free site. However, not all articles are available freely on PubMed.
  • You may login to PubMed through the QC Libraries A-Z Database List portal - PubMed
  • This will prompt you to enter your barcode or your CUNY Login Credentials - firstname.lastnamenn@login.cuny.edu where nn is the last 2+ digits of your EMPL ID. For more information, view our FAQ on library access.
  • By doing this you will expand the content available to you on PubMed. You will be able to view full-text articles that are freely available and those that the QC Libraries have within their collection.

Let's try to search for Nutrition Protein by logging into PubMed through QC Libraries' A-Z Database List.

  1. Once on PubMed, type in the search box your desired search term and select SEARCH

  • This will take you to the results page where you will find abstracts, free full-text and full-text (some titles are available via QC Libraries)
  • If you use the filter on the left and select Full-Text, the following list will populate.

If you were to select the first option, you will then be taken to the following:

If you select the Elsevier tab on the top right, you will be taken to Elsevier-Science Direct.

Because you logged in through the QC Libraries A-Z Database page and the library has access to this title, you are able to see the download PDF button on the top left.

Please complete an ILL request for items that you need not within the library's collection. The library will request the item from another library for you. Queens College faculty, staff, and students may request books, articles, and other library materials through Inter-Library Loan (ILLIAD). Before using ILLIAD you will need to register.

You will be asked to enter some personal/college information, and then create a username and password for yourself.

Follow the instructions you find on that page for: "FIRST TIME USERS must fill out the REGISTRATION FORM."

Once registered you can request articles by typing in the information.

Here's what the ILLIAD system looks like when you log in.

Your options are on the left, including how to check for Electronically Received Articles.

Additional information is available on the Inter-Library Loan page or you may also email the ILLIAD staff directly about your requests: illqc@qc.cuny.edu.

What OneSearch Searches?

OneSearch will try to find that term in the records by searching for

  1. items that contain those term.
  2. items with those exact phrases
  3.  items that begin with those phrase

OneSearch searches entire records

  • Anywhere in the record
  • In the title
  • Author/Creator
  • Title
  • Table of Contents

What affects the ranking of the results retrieved from a OneSearch?

Relevance

  1. Keywords found in title, author or subject field
  2. An Exact match with the keyword will yield the highest relevance
  3. If the term or phrase searched is the same order in a record/records, those will rank higher
  4. How frequent the search term occurs in a record also affects its rank
  5. How frequently the search term is used plays a part as well

Academic Relevance

  • Published in a Peer-Reviewed Journal
  • Number of times cited
  • Material Type (Journals Articles, Newspapers Article)

If the search parameters are broad then OneSearch will place overview/reviews higher than actual materials. If you filter the publication date or if we recently added something to the catalog, those show up first.

Improving your Searches:

Boolean Operators

  1. AND (retrieves both terms) forest AND fires
  2. OR (retrieves either or all terms)
  3. NOT (retrieves only relevant term) climate NOT weather

Quotations

  • “Extinction rebellion” - searches a phrase
  • “Colour” - searches for a specific spelling

Parentheses: can search more complex queries

  • (Public NOT Private) AND education

Truncation: *

  • librar* → library, libraries, librarian

Wildcard: ?

  • M?n → man, men

Filters on the left hand side of the page. Use synonyms if your results are not what you want.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Created by Sonali Sugrim.