Searching with Proquest

Good results follow naturally from good searches

Your search term is vital

• Proquest like all databases is indexed by terms and vocabulary

• Proquest provides a Thesaurus that you may consult, and it automatically provides suggestions

• Try searching for “same sex marriage”, “gay marriage”, and “same sex marriage” OR “gay marriage” and note the different number of results

Search Logic• Proquest treats the term gay marriage as

“gay marriage”, but the term same sex marriage is not quite the same as “same sex marriage”

• Quotes allow the database to search on a phrase as a single term

• Truncation is useful and important: if you search on econom*, you find economy, economies, economic, for example

• OR broadens the search: i.e., “gay marriage” OR “same sex marriage”

Tips

• Proquest allows searches by both Relevance and by Date

• Always check the Full Text box• Use the suggested subjects to refine your

search• Note that some articles are available in both

text and pdf formats• If you want a specific publication, make sure

Proquest has it by checking Publications

My Research

• You can email, print, cite or save your results• If you create a My Research account (free), you

can save the results of your searches (and save lots of paper)

• If you save to My Research, your citations will be available. Use MLA, 7th edition for your citation format

• Although more difficult, advanced search can save you time and effort depending on the task

Applying what you have learned

• Other electronic databases and common search engines have variations in search logic, so it pays to take a minute to understand the particular search logic. Don’t take too much for granted

• The Proquest Id is niagarafhs and the password is welcome

• The Library has a list of ids and passwords for all our electronic resources

• Everything is available to you at home if you have an internet connection