intro to
using
PsycINFO

Pamela Harris

Head of Research & Instruction

Swarthmore College Libraries

Advanced Search Training

Developing a topic and terms

Expanding and narrowing searches

When the "FindIt" button doesn't work

There are three parts to finding the
scholarly articles that you need:

information resources
e.g. JSTOR, Tripod, PsycINFO

search terms
e.g. "body image" self-esteem

advanced search tools
e.g. child* searches for children, childhood and childlike; wom?n searches woman,
women and womyn

(1) Different information resources let  you find different kinds of information

JSTOR, ProjectMuse

journal articles and ebooks from many academic disciplines

Tripod

books (and more) in the library and articles
from many disciplines

PsycINFO

journal articles, chapters, books, reports, theses and dissertations by researchers and practitioners
working in related fields of Psychology

(2) When looking for scholarly literature you need to be clever with search terms.

• What are synonyms and related words for your topic?  Consider broader and narrower concepts that could involve a discussion of your topic.

e.g. happiness, euphoria, joy, pleasure, well-being

• Do scholars refer to your topic using particular language? What is that language?
              e.g. teenage mothers, adolescent mothers

• Are there historical names for the place(s) you're studying? (e.g. Mumbai and Bombay)

• What words & spellings were in use in the time you are studying?

Why do search terms matter so much?

Depending upon the database, you may be searching through the article title and subjects, an abstract, or the full article.

Write down a topic about which you want

to find more information . . .

Now swap your notes with a partner. Ask each other questions about your topics and
brainstorm keywords . . .

(3) Scholarly databases and Tripod don't know how to combine your search terms.

You need to use Advanced Search strategies to
make more precise requests.

PsycINFO offers particularly useful advanced search options aimed at researchers and practitioners, a thesaurus of
indexed terms and the ability to limit to empirical studies,
meta analyses and classification codes.

To recap:

Choose the right database or catalog depending on the
kind of information you need.

Create a list of search terms to cover all of your bases.

Use Advanced Search strategies to combine your search
terms effectively.