Phrase Searching (Quotation Marks)
Quotations marks (" ") will group words as a phrase, ensuring they appear next to each other in the record. For example:
will return only articles that use those terms right next to each other.
whereas 
will return articles that may mention Great in one part of the record and Depression in another part of the record.
Truncation (The Asterisk)
An Asterisk (*) at the end of a term will allow you to search for different forms of a word with what you enter as a base. For example:
will return Education, Educator, Educators, Educate, Educated
whereas 
will return just Education exactly as you type it in.
This is a very simple and effective way of broadening the number of results you get.
Using IDS (Interlibrary Loan)
If you find an article in one of the library databases that doesn't have a PDF icon, click on the 
button to access the full text. One of two things will happen: 1) either we have access to the full text from one our databases and the article will open in a new window, or 2) a window will open with a link to request it through IDS:
Click on this link, then use your Geneseo username and password to log into IDS. (If you haven't set up your account, you will have to fill out a brief form to do so. You will only have to fill this out once):
Common Searching Mistakes
Common mistake #1: Simply sticking your "topic" into the search box and expecting good results!
Improvement:
Even better:
Common mistake #2: Not brainstorming to come up with better search words!
Improvement:
Common mistake #3 Choosing the wrong database!
Improvement:
Call Numbers
Uncertain of where to start searching for your call number?
Check out the floorplan for the Upper Level.
