LibGuides: ENGL 1320: Interdisciplinary Writing and Research: Choosing a Search Tool

Types of Search Tools at UCA

Search Tool	Useful for...	Not useful for...
Discovery	A general search of the library's resources Testing a topic to see if there is enough material	Performing an advanced search for a narrow topic Quickly finding scholarly, peer-reviewed articles for a research paper Finding newspapers
Academic Search Complete	Targeted searching of peer-reviewed articles Searching for a narrowed topic using AND, OR, and NOT (Boolean operators)	Finding books Finding newspapers
ProQuest Central	Targeted searching of newspaper articles and some peer-reviewed articles Searching for a narrowed topic using AND, OR, and NOT (Boolean operators)	Finding ONLY peer-reviewed articles (ProQuest databases include Blogs and Websites as well as newspapers and trade journals. These ARE NOT scholarly resources)

Icon	Resource Type	Explanation
	Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed Journal Article	Authoritative article that has been through an extensive process of professional scrutiny Explores an original research topic or inquiry Good for supporting and enhancing your opinions and knowledge of a topic
	Magazine or Trade Journal (Not peer-reviewed)	Often referred to as "popular sources" Very current, but less authoritative than peer-reviewed sources Good for getting ideas about a topic or as a source of opinions
	Newspaper article	Focused on current events Covers a wide variety of topics Good source of both national and local events
	Book Review (Not peer-reviewed)	May appear in a scholarly journal but IS NOT a peer-reviewed article Useful to know what experts in a field think about a book May help you find books useful to your research