General Databases
The below databases cover a range of disciplines, each of which have some connection with globalization.
Sometimes you will retrieve too many results, not enough results, or the results are not what you expected. This is a normal part of the research process; the next step is to refine your search strategy by either narrowing or broadening your search.
If you are getting too many results that aren't very focused, consider narrowing your search. You can do this by adding keywords to your search, or by narrowing your topic using one of the following strategies.
Time: Limit the time span that you are looking at. Narrowing your search to the last ten years, for example, will produce fewer results.
Place: Limit your topic by geographic area. Try limiting by country, state, or even city.:
Event: Instead of focusing on The Civil War, for example, choose a particular battle as your topic.
Population: Limit your search by age, race, gender, or occupation. Focusing on a particular population will narrow your focus.
Sub-area: Look at a particular area of a discipline. Instead of researching biology, for example, research the ecology of pine trees.
Example of Broad Topic:Globalization
Example of Narrower Topic: How has globalization affected the art market in China?
If your search is too narrow, however, you won't retrieve enough information to complete your assignment. You may have to:
- Remove some of the limiters that you already have on your topic (i.e. time, population group)
- Search additional databases for more information
- Brainstorm additional synonyms that could be searched using the OR operator
Example: Instead of searching: tourism AND "Latin America" AND globalization
Search: (tourism OR travel) AND ("Latin America" OR "Central America" OR "South America")
AND globalization
- Use broader terminology instead of specific jargon
- Use truncation: Search for touris* to get results on tourism and tourists
