Library Guides: Higher Education: Search Tips and Tutorials

Higher Education Search Tips

Use each database's thesaurus or subject headings list to identify the best wording for your topic. For example, ERIC uses:

Need to find empirical articles? Below is a guide that tells you what they are and how to find them:

ProQuest Platform LibGuide
Includes tip sheets, videos, and more!
Social Science Training Materials
A gateway to resources for using ProQuest's Social Sciences databases.
Searching with the ERIC ProQuest Thesaurus
Learn how to look up subject headings in the ERIC thesaurus to more powerfully search for relevant works. Transcript available below video as attachment.
Saving your searches in ProQuest ERIC
Save your searches in ERIC to document and return to them for later use. Transcript available below video as attachment.
Exporting search results from ERIC ProQuest
Export your search results from ProQuest ERIC in .csv format to further analyze and annotate records. Transcript available below video as attachment.

Online Students Use of the Library
Although this guide is intended for Penn State World Campus students, it's a helpful orientation for anyone who is doing most of their research off-campus.
How to Guides
Penn State's library tutorials. They cover a wide variety of research-related skills.
Google Scholar Search Tips
Advice for using Google's search engine for journal articles.
JSTOR Support > Students
JSTOR's student page is helpful for any user.
JSTOR on YouTube
Videos from JSTOR's support team.