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COMM C1000 (Natale) FA25

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MLA Citations Communications Guide
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Finding Background Information

Keep these tips in mind when finding background information:

  • "Quotation marks" keep words together when searching for phrases.
    • Example: "climate change"
  • AND narrows results (includes all terms)
    • Example: "climate change" AND "renewable energy"
  • OR expands results (includes synonyms)
    • Example: "global warming" OR "climate change"

Example Search: ("climate change" OR "global warming") AND ("solar power" OR "wind energy")

Creating Keywords

Keep these tips in mind when creating your keywords.

  • "Quotation marks" keep words together when searching for phrases.
    • Example: "climate change"
  • AND narrows results (includes all terms)
    • Example: "climate change" AND "renewable energy"
  • OR expands results (includes synonyms)
    • Example: "global warming" OR "climate change"

Example Search: ("climate change" OR "global warming") AND ("solar power" OR "wind energy")

 

Database Search Tips

Step 1: Identify your main idea

Example Topic: The role of renewable energy in combating climate change

Step 2: Pull out the keywords

  • renewable energy (related terms: solar power, wind energy, clean energy)
  • climate change (related terms: global warming, greenhouse gases)
  • combating (related terms: fighting, reducing, mitigating)

Step 3: Create a search

  • Basic: "renewable energy" AND "climate change"
  • Advanced: ("renewable energy" OR "solar power" OR "wind energy") AND ("climate change" OR "global warming") AND (combating OR reducing)

Step 4: Adjust as you go

  • If too many results → add more specific terms (ex: solar panels, carbon reduction).
  • If too few results → remove a keyword or replace one with a related term.

Database searching is not an exact science and you'll need to experiment with different keywords to get the best results.

OneSearch Video

OneSearch

Practice Lateral Reading

MLA Citations

MLA citations give credit to the sources you use in your research.

MLA (Modern Language Association) citations consist of two components:

  • In-text citations within your paper include the author’s last name and page number
  • Works Cited list at the end with full citation details for each source used

Career Speech & Occupational Outlook Handbook

1. Check out the MiraCosta Library Career Research Guide

2. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics's Occupational Outlook Handbook is helpful and really cool!