Research Workshop
Pol Sci 80: Civil Wars
Practices and resources for
doing research more effectively
Simon Elichko
Social Sciences & Data Librarian
(they/them)
What we'll talk about:
Paywalls
Broken links
Searching more effectively
Alternative search engines (beyond Google)
Paywalls
"You've run out of free articles for the month..."
"Buy this e-book..." "Pay $45 for this article PDF..."
Paywalls → Library Subscriptions
You can get articles from thousands of newspapers, magazines, and journals through Swarthmore's Libraries.
Find a specific article or publication:
Explore publications:
Accessing pay-walled articles
Scholarly / academic journal articles
-
Search Tripod for the article title. Look for a matching result and follow links to access. (e.g. Teaching South African History in a Digital Age)
-
Can't find it in Tripod? Apply the search filter Include results without full text to see more results. (see this example)
Click on your article title if it appears in the results. Follow the prompt to login to Tripod, then click on Request via Interlibrary Loan.
- Still not seeing your article? Go to Borrow Beyond TriCo, then choose the journal article request link. Fill out the form to request a PDF of the article.
Accessing pay-walled articles
News articles
-
Search Tripod for the publication title (e.g. New York Times, The Economist, New Yorker), not the article title. (example search)
-
Look for the publication in your results. Click on the best match to continue. Find access links under "View Online." (example with links)
Feel free to use the chat button if you need help.
- Can't find the publication in Tripod? Go to Borrow Beyond TriCo, then choose the journal article request link. Fill out the form to request a PDF of the article.
Web Archives
If you come across a broken link, copy the URL + search for it using Wayback Machine.
For example: updates from a Greenpeace anti-coal campaign
in Greece
Paywalls
Broken links
Search more effectively
Alternative search engines
Paywalls
Broken links
Search more effectively
Alternative search engines
Search Google more effectively:
Find results by date:
Yemen conflict after:2021-12-31
Yemen conflict before:2020
Remove results that include these terms:
nigeria vaccines -covid -covax
Results that mention at least one of these keywords:
How to search social media through Google:
Limit Google results to specific websites:
You can search multiple platforms at once:
railroad strike site:instagram.com | site:tiktok.com | site:reddit.com
Alternative search engines
FindPolicy
Particularly useful for reports from think tanks and international organizations. Search groups of websites by theme (e.g. conflict resolution, development donors) or geography.
Compare results from two different FindPolicy groups for: "South Sudan" after:2020
- Conflict Resolution Organizations
Find peer-reviewed articles by topic. Connects to library subscriptions for getting PDFs.
(example search)
MillionShort
Lets you remove top sites from results, surfaces different content
For more resources, see the
Database Finder.
Paywalls
Broken links
Search more effectively
Alternative search engines
Develop your research skills
& get support with your projects
Get peer support from RIAs
Chat • Research & Info Desk • librarian@swat
RIAs are available at the Research & Info Desk on McCabe 1st:
- Sun-Thu • 5-10pm
- Fri • 11am-5pm
POLS 80: Civil Wars
By Swarthmore Reference
