ENGL 100 (Scaduto) FA 19: Home

Getting Started: the presearch before the research!

1. Write your subject/topic down
2. Circle the main terms/ideas
3. Brainstorm additional or related terms/ideas for your main terms

• Consider forms: phish, phisher, phishing, spear phishing, etc.

• Consider synonyms:  deception, cybercrime, fraudulent communication, social engineering

• Consider related terms: hacking, identity theft, domain spoofing, email attacks, pharming

​Define topic"--> "Brainstorm search terms"--> "Do search"--> "Record new terms"

Remember: "controlled vocabulary . . . is it car, automobile or vehicle?"

Find books, articles, and even videos using the Library's databases. Use Advanced Search Techniques to get better results:

1. “quotation marks” are good for phrases: e.g. "identity fraud"

   AND gives fewer results: "identity theft" AND phishing

2. OR gives you more results: e.g "data breach" OR hacking

3. Choose the right database(s) for your topic

*Off-campus? Use SURF ID & SURF Password

Looking for background information:

Once you've chosen which topic to research, start looking for the basics about your topic using online reference databases such as:

1. Gale Virtual Reference Library
2. Oxford Handbooks Online
3. Annals of American History
4. Britannica Online

Finding books and eBooks

• Use the library catalog to find books and e-books, DVDs and videos

  • Remember: "controlled vocabulary . . . is it car, automobile or vehicle?"

• MiraCosta's e-books can be accessed from home with your SURF ID & password

Finding Articles: Exploring Your Topic in Depth

• CQ Researcher​
  1. Weekly Congressional Quarterly Press reports offering analysis of most current major controversial issues with summaries, pros and cons, statistics, and bibliographies.
• Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost)
  1. Try the Advanced Search to combine multiple keywords
  2. Remember to check the box for Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals when you want to limit your results to just scholarly journal articles
• JSTOR (all scholarly journals)
  1. Select Item Type: Article, under "Narrow By"
  2. To find an article from a political science journal, scroll down to "Journal Filter Narrow by Discipline and/or Journal" and click on Political Science
• Opposing Viewpoints
  1. A social issues database with full-text periodical articles, viewpoint essays, reference material, statistics, topic overviews and websites, organized under popular research topic headings.
• Science in Context
  1. Information for all science-related research needs. Includes reference, peer-reviewed and technical periodicals, news, and multi-media.
• GREENR
  1. Provides news, background information, video, unique commentaries, primary source documents and statistics - covering relevant categories including energy systems, healthcare, food, climate change, population and economic development.

Check out additional Databases by Subject.

Find Government web sites, type site:gov with your topic keywords.

• cybercrime site:gov

Find Education sites (site:edu)

or Non-profit sites (site:org)