Using the EbscoHost Database
What is it?
EbscoHost is a database of academic writing that is available through Scarborough Library.
Shepherd students can access EbscoHost, as well as other databases, from home.
This page provides tips to help students who are having trouble using EbscoHost or doing online research in general.
How do I get there?
To find EbscoHost, even from home, visit the Scarborough Library website (http://www.shepherd.edu/libweb). Click the pull-down bar at the top left of the screen, and select "EbscoHost." You will be taken there automatically.
Most users will want to click "EbscoHost Web." The other two links are a plain text version of EbscoHost and a kid-centric search engine called "Searchasaurus."
The next page prompts you to Choose Databases. For literature classes, simply check the box next to Academic Search Primer. When writing for other disciplines, scan through the list and find a database that matches your subject. you can check as many as you like. Click the "Continue" button.
Any tips for searching?
Use the "Select a Field" boxes
If you are looking for journals that cite "Romeo and Juliet," then try using the "Select a Field" pull down box to select "SU - Subject Terms" to find all the articles whose authors have earmarked as having to do with "Romeo and Juliet." Experiment with these boxes to improve your results.
Use Quotation Marks
When doing an internet search, putting a phrase in quotation marks will search for that exact phrase. For example, entering Because I Could Not Stop For Death will yield entries that contain all of those words, but the words will not always come right after another. Searching for "Because I Could Not Stop For Death" will yield only results that contain the exact words, in the exact order that they are inside the quotation marks.
Use Boolean Search Terms
Boolean search terms will help you by telling the search enging what to include and what to exclude. An excellent explanation of what Boolean terms are and how they work can be found here (external link).
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