This information is specifically written to provide information on searching America: History and Life and Historical Abstracts and other indexes on the EBSCO Platform. Other database platforms may have different proximity operators and truncation symbols.
In addition to searching America: History and Life and Historical Abstracts, try searching other indexes, such as Academic Search Complete, GreenFile or even a subject index, especially if you are researching a topic that might not be directly related to history. For example, information on coal mining in Illinois might also be found in GeoRef, an index to Geology information. If you need help finding information, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am usually in the office by 7:15 AM.
Some scholarly indexes can be searched using a system similar to Google: enter words to retrieve information on a topic. However, to search indexes such as America: History & Life a search strategy must be developed.
1. Identify key terms for your search - To identify the topics to search, write a 1-sentence description or question about the topic:
What is the history of the reversal of the Chicago River?
How have views of the Environmental Protection Agency changed over time?
Identify the key terms in those questions. These are the terms that will be searched in the indexes:
What is the history of the reversal of the Chicago River?
How have views of the Environmental Protection Agency changed over time?
2. Use quotation marks to search phrases - This is especially useful for searching geographic names, such as Chicago River and McDonough County, or government agencies, such as the Environmental Protectiion Agency.
"Chicago River" "Hennepin Canal" "Environmental Protection Agency"
3. Connect search terms using the words AND. AND finds terms anywhere in the record.
reversal AND "Chicago River" AND Illinois
"Environmental Protection Agency" AND views
4. If too many items are found using AND, try using the Wxx Proximity Operator. Replace the xx with a number, such as 10. This finds terms within 10 words of each other.
reversal W10 "Chicago River" W10 Illinois
"Environmental Protection Agency" W10 views
NOTE: The second search finds 615 items in Academic Search Complete using AND. Only 59 items are found using the W10 Proximity Operator. Using Wxx results in a much more precise search.
5. Combine terms with similar meanings using OR.
(reversal OR diversion) W10 "Chicago River" W10 Illinois
"Environmental Protection Agency" W10 (views OR opinions)
6. Use Parentheses to group parts of a search together. Terms in parentheses will be searched before the rest of the terms in a search (see examples above).
7. To search various forms of a word, use Wildcards and Truncation symbols. The wildcards used in America: History & Life and Historical Abstracts are: ? # and *.
? - replaces a single character
ne?t will find neat, next, nest wom?n will find woman or women
# - looks for alternate spellings
colo#r finds color or colour
* - serves as a truncation symbol to search for different forms of a word or a phrase that is missing a word.
agricultur* finds agriculture, agricultural
environment* finds environment, environments, environmental, environmentally
La*Moine will find La Moine or LaMoine
8. Use NOT to eliminate items that might not be appropriate for your research. For example, it is possible to eliminate items that are written in a language you don't read by entering the language and then using the pull-down to specify the language.
9. Use the Find It Link to see if a journal article is available in the WIU Libraries.
In America: History & Life, Historical Abstracts and other WIU indexes, when search results are displayed, the button displayed above will be seen. By clicking on this button, it is possible to link to the full text of journal articles. If the journal is available through the WIU Libraries, you will be prompted to connect to the journal or directed to the print publication.
The Find It Button only works for journals. It does not work for government publications or reports (which are sometimes used in historical research).
If the item is not a journal, search the title in WestCat to see if it is available. If the item is not available in the WIU Libraries, see if it is available in I-Share. If so, you can request it using the I-Share request system. If not, it can be requested through Interlibrary Loan.
Geographic Searching
When searching for information about a particular place, try searching the most specific term first. If you do not find anything, then search a broader term.
Example: Argyle Lake State Park is located in McDonough County, Illinois. It is a feature within the La Moine River Basin
Possible Search Terms:
Argyle Lake
La Moine River
McDonough County
Remember to search geographic terms, such as La Moine River, Argyle Lake and McDonough County using quotation marks.
A short video on Searching Indexes for Publications demonstrates how to search EbscoHost Indexes. It and several other videos are available in the Library Instruction section of this Guide.