Welcome! In this guide, you will find search strategies and tips that support assignments in ENGL 147: Writing Arguments About STEM courses. The contents in this guide are organized by assignment type. Each assignment type is contained in its own box with a title describing the assignment (e.g., Claim of Fact: Presentation). You will find these boxes on this page. If you need additional research help, visit the Research 101 Guide (linked on the left side navigation) for self-paced tutorials, videos, and handouts, or get immediate help from a real person using the 24/7 Live Help Chat tool. 

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Where to Start Your Search

Begin with an initial background search to learn more about your topic (e.g., perform a search on Google or Duck Duck Go). Find reliable sources in OneSearch using keywords (search terms) and filtering. Use a variety of search terms including synonyms and related terms to your main research topics or ideas. Next, try searching one of the following databases using keywords, filtering, and boolean operators. Get help with your search by chatting with a librarian using the 24/7 Live Chat Help tool. For data-related search strategies, visualization techniques, and help from peer instructors, visit the Data, GIS, and Digital Projects Lab Guide.

Example topic: sustainability issues with plastic

Lenses in which to view the topic: production, disposal, and consumption

Example keywords to try in OneSearch and/or databases:

• plastic or polyethylene or synthetic
• production or manufacture or creation or industry or distribution
• disposal or discard or dump or pollution or recycle
• consumption or use or application

Databases

Where to Start Your Search

Begin with an initial background search to learn more about your topic and identify potential stakeholders. A general web search, like on Google, is a good starting place. Next, perform a search in OneSearch using keywords you identified in your preliminary search and filter your results to your resource needs (e.g., by date, by source type, etc). Following OneSearch, try searching one of the recommended databases below using keywords, filtering, and boolean operators. 

Strategies and Tips for finding stakeholders and stakeholder interviews:

• Initial background searching will be key in identifying stakeholders on your topic. If we search for plastic pollution on Google, we may learn the names of production companies making plastic, communities affected by plastic pollution, etc via news articles, websites, or even wikipedia. Once you have more context on your topic and identified some stakeholder names, you can try searching to see if there are interviews available. Tip: if you hit paywalls on articles you find via Google, try a search with the title in OneSearch.
• Tip: When searching in OneSearch or a database, put Stakeholder names in quotations "name" for a more precise search. 
• In Academic Search Premier and Proquest Global Newsstream, you can limit your search results to just interviews and by type (e.g., scholarly journals, newspapers, podcasts, magazines, trade journals, etc).
  • Screenshot of filtering by interview in Academic Search Premier.  
  • Screenshot of filtering by interview in Proquest Global Newsstream.
• Some publicly traded companies have activist stakeholders in the company who work to change the company "from the inside". For example, there is a group of Chevron stakeholders (activist shareholders) advocating for reduced carbon emissions (Article: Climate Activist Shareholders to Target US Oil Giant Chevron)

Databases