Engineering

The ability to properly cite and link back to the articles that you have found is essential.  Permalinks and DOIs are two persistent linking methods that ensure that you will always be able to find the article that you cited.

Permalinks within an article database

• Persistent links that will connect you to your article within the article database.
• Especially helpful if you want an easy link to the full-text of an article.
• May not work for someone outside UNF because their organization does not subscribe to the database.

DOIs: Digital Object Identifiers

• Persistent link to the article information (and sometimes the full text of the article) on the publisher's website.
• The standardized method of sharing links among scholars.

The key to retrieving the desired results when searching is to use common search techniques that can be applied in almost any databases, including article databases, library catalogs, and commercial search engines.

If you search a database and do not get the results you expect, ASK for advice. 

Boolean searching is used by most databases to focus searches.  A few tips:

• Three Boolean operators are recognized by most databases: AND, OR, and NOT
• Sometimes operators must be written in all CAPS (this also helps you keep track of your search terms)
• The default in most databases is to combine terms with the AND operator
• Databases generally have an order in which they process Boolean terms, tut that order may differ between databases.  Use parentheses to change the processing order.  Always check the parentheses after a search to be certain the database put them where you expected.
  •  Hurricane AND ("power poles" OR "transmission lines") is not the same as
  • (Hurricane AND "power poles") OR "transmission lines"
• Use quotation marks for phrases