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General Guide to Library Research

We've added an on-demand article service!

What it is: Article Galaxy Scholar (AGS) provides immediate access to articles from select journals. The library covers all fees.

How it works: When applicable, AGS will show up as an option to obtain articles when you search the Library Catalog or end up in the catalog via the "Find it @ Oregon Tech" button. 

Hit a paywall elsewhere? Grab the title of the article, plug it into the Library Catalog, and you'll see all options for getting full text from your OIT Library (including AGS, when applicable!).

Read more on our Article Galaxy Scholar guide.

Library Databases

We subscribe to dozens of databases to help you find articles, reports and other information.

Access them from anywhere with an internet connection. Some databases are general purpose (cover all subjects) and other databases are specialized or subject-specific. All of our databases can be found on the library's Electronic Resources page.

Oregon Tech Library homepage with arrow pointing to Electronic Resources link.

Start with a General-Purpose Database

If you're not sure where to start, Academic Search Complete is a great starting point:

Try Subject-Specific Databases

We also have subject-specific databases that can help you focus your research.

Find them by selecting a Subject in the dropdown list on the Electronic Resources page:

Screenshot of Electronic Resources page with arrow pointing toward Subjects dropdown list

Boolean Operators

Databases require a different kind of search technique.
Instead of entering a long string of text, you connect your search terms using Boolean Operators: AND, OR and NOT. The diagram below shows the effect of using each of the Boolean Operators. The shaded area indicates the volume of items that will be retrieved in each case.
 
 Venn diagram. And = only results that meet both criteria. Or = results that meet either criteria. Not = don't show results that have this criteria
Truncation: use * to find all word endings. For example environment* will find environments, environmental, environmental impacts
 

Need Help?

If you need help using article databases, contact your librarian or your campus library. We're happy to help connect you with the right database and keywords to get your research moving in the right direction.