A “best practices” guide for more effective database searching

Contents

The guide is arranged into the following sections:

What are electronic databases?
Which database should I use?
Search techniques
Using search results

What are electronic databases?

Databases provide digital access to publications which can include but are not limited to the following:

• Books
• Journal articles
• Book reviews
• Popular magazines

Databases offer access to these publications in various forms including:

• Citations
• Abstracts
• Full text

Which database should I use?

The library subscribes to various databases. For example, some deal with music while others may offer more generalized topics. The current list of databases can be found Above. Most databases have an explanatory description on their respective landing pages.

Planning the search

Limit your search results by implementing one or more of the following:

• By publication title
• By citation, abstract or full text
• Whether it is peer-reviewed
• By date
• By subject area

Searching techniques

Several of the library subscribed databases allow for “ advanced “ searching. Advanced searches make use of operators such as AND, OR and NOT. These operators can help add or exclude words from the search results. Searches may be further defined by utilizing the following:

• Keywords
• Entire document
• Document title
• Publication title
• Subject
• Abstract
• Author

What operators and search limiters you can use will depend on the database.

Help connecting to the databases while off-campus

1. Confirm that you have the Library databases tab open above.
2. Confirm that you are using the "For off-campus access log in here with your MyCU username/password" link
3. Are you able to login successfully? You should now see the list of databases 
4. If you could not login to see the list of databases, remember the following:
   1. Only use the username portion of your email and leave @mycu.concord.edu off (students) & @concord.edu (faculty/staff)
   2. You must use the correct MyCU/email username & password combination to successfully log in
   3. If you still cannot login correctly, http://www.concord.edu/mypass can be used to reset your password
5. Once successfully logged on, can you select a database and search for articles? If not, proceed to the next section

Identify Your Web Browser

• Safari (Mac,iPhone, iPad)
• Edge
• Chrome
• Firefox

Locate & Clear Your Web Browser History/Cache

• Safari
  1. In the Safari menu bar, click the Safari option
  2. Select the Preferences link
  3. In the preferences window, click the Advanced tab
  4. At the bottom of the window, select the Show Develop Menu in Menu Bar checkbox
  5. Return to the Safari menu bar and click the Develop option
  6. Select the Empty Caches link

 

• Safari for iPhone and iPad
  1. Click on the Settings app
  2. Scroll to find, then click on Safari
  3. Scroll toward the bottom and click Clear History and Website Data
  4. Click Clear History and Data

 

• Edge
  1. ​On the Edge toolbar, select the ellipsis icon on the far right
  2. Select Settings at the bottom
  3. Scroll down to Clear Browsing Data
  4. Click on the Choose what to clear 
  5. Uncheck the box that says Tabs I've set aside or recently closed
  6. Click on Clear

 

• Chrome​
  1. On the browser toolbar, click the Chrome menu icon
  2. Select the More Tools option
  3. Select Clear Browsing Data
  4. Use the drop down menu to select the beginning of time 
  5. Select all checkboxes 
  6. Click the Clear Browsing Data button

 

• Firefox
  1. ​In the Firefox menu bar, click on the Firefox option
  2. Select the Preferences link
  3. Click on the Privacy tab
  4. Under the History heading, click the clear your recent history link
  5. Select the Cache checkbox. You can select multiple checkboxes for other browser information as well
  6. Click the Clear Now button
  7. Alternatively, you may also use the shortcut ctrl+h to bring up your complete history to clear

Close and Restart Your Web Browser

If you still require assistance accessing the databases from off campus, call 304-384-5371