Research

Get an initial overview of the topic, for example by consulting encyclopaedias, reference works, and subject-specific handbooks.

• Come up with search terms.
• Look for related terms, synonyms, translations, superordinate and subordinate terms, e.g., using a mind map or a list of search terms. Also consult specialised dictionaries and thesauri.

A wildcard (usually an asterisk *) is placed at the end of a word. During the search, the wildcard is replaced by either no characters or any number of characters or words.

Example: Literatur* finds Literatur, literature, Literaturgeschichte etc.

In a phrase search, several words or a string of characters are placed in quotation marks. This ensures that the search is performed for exactly this group of words or string of characters. 

Example: „amerikanische Literatur“ does not find amerikanischer, amerikanischen, etc. Literatur

AND: All terms used must appear in the record.
Example: American AND Literature searches for all records containing both American and Literature. The order is irrelevant. 

OR: At least one of the search terms must appear in the record.
Example: Translation OR Übersetzung searches for all records containing either Translation or Übersetzung, or both terms.

NOT: None of the following search terms may be included in the record.
Example: Literature NOT translation finds all records that contain Literature but not the term translation.

You can link the terms from your Mind Map or search term list using Boolean operators and use them for your search. By using brackets, you can ensure that the search query is carried out in the form you require. Wildcards and phrase searches can also be used here.
Example: “American Literature” NOT (Translat* OR übersetz*) finds all records that contain exactly the term sequence American Literature but do not contain terms beginning with translat or übersetz or both of these terms (such as Translations or Übersetzungsfehler).

Many catalogues and databases contain keywords (also sometimes referred to as search terms or topics). These can often be used for your search with a simple click. Please note, however, that searches are often limited to the ‘keyword’ category. Furthermore, there may be records on a particular topic that do not include the relevant keyword. You should therefore also search for the term using the search bar.

If you are looking for a specific article, it is best to search for the source in which the article appeared, i.e. the journal or series. In the library, in general, the volume can be ordered or viewed.

Example: Bengtsson, Stephanie: Education and gender. In: International Review of Education, Vol. 61.2015, 6, pp 857–859
This article was published in the journal "International Review of Education" namely in volume 61 published in 2015. The article can be found in issue no. 6 on pages 857–859.

If you are not looking for a specific article but rather articles on a particular topic in general, start a thematic search and ideally use a Specialised information service for this.

Document your search: This way, you will know what you searched for, where and when.

In FRIDA, you can search in these collections:

• Library: Physical media from the ZHB plus freely accessible and licensed e-media for EUF or HSFL (link to search)

Access to the entire range of e-media (i.e. also to the e-media of the "other" Flensburg university) is available at the internet computers in the reading room. Guest users can also access the e-media there.

• Europa-Universität Flensburg: Physical media from the ZHB plus freely accessible and licensed e-media for the EUF (link to search)
• Flensburg University of Applied Sciences: Physical media from the ZHB plus freely accessible and licensed e-media for the FUAS (link to search)
• Common library: Holdings from many other libraries connected to the online interlibrary loan service of the GBV (link to search)

If you get a large number of results, narrow down your search using additional filters:

• Time period: Select specific publication years
• Online/physical: Select physical or online media
• Formats: Select media types (e.g. book, article, journal)
• Languages: Select languages
• Keywords: Select keywords
• Locations: Limits the results to the Reading Room, Closed stacks, CDs, DVDs, Journals collection or School book collections
• Content types: Select the type of media content (e.g. dictionary, collection of essays)
• Fuzzy: A phonetic (fuzzy) search can be selected. This looks for words related by root together with the search term.

You can place a wildcard in the middle or at the end of a search term. You cannot place a wildcard at the beginning of a search term.

* : Replaces no or any number of characters.

? : Replaces exactly one character.

Further information on Wildcards can be found here.

You can initiate a Boolean search by entering one or more search terms in the search bar in combination with the operators AND or +, OR and NOT or -

Further information on Boolean operators can be found here.

A search priority can be set by placing the caret symbol ^ followed by a numerical value after a term. The term is then weighted more heavily by the specified factor:

Example: American literature^200 weights the term literature by a factor of 200 relative to the term American.

You can also search for records in the original script.

To perform a targeted search within a field, you can enter the relevant search key directly into the search box.

Example:

• author:Curie
• author(Curie)
• autor:Curie
• autor(Curie)

Each of these options searches for the name Curie within the author field.

Search keys can be combined. You can search for multiple terms at the same time, separating them with commas (see OR at Boolean operators). 

Example: author(Curie) year(1903, 1911) 

A blank space within the brackets or after the colon performs an AND search. Truncation is also possible.

Example: title:Ameri?an* literatur*

Books and journal articles not available at the ZHB can usually be ordered via interlibrary loan. Please use the Joint Union Catalogue (GVK K10plus) for this purpose.

For an overview of all databases, subject bibliographies, and specialist portals, use the Database Information System (DBIS).

You can also search the catalogs of other libraries in Flensburg.

The Karlsruhe Virtual Catalogue (KVK) allows users to perform a meta-search across multiple union catalogues.

GoogleScholar can be used to search for bibliographic references and full-text versions of academic documents.

When using online sources, check their credibility and suitability for citation in academic work. The CRAP test (developed by Molly Beestrum, Librarian at Northwestern University, Chicago) can help you identify suitable literature and remove unreliable sources from your reference list. You can practise applying the CRAP test via the following link (only in German): https://www.econbiz.de/eb/gw/richtig-zitieren/crap-tests

The academic quality of a source can be assessed using the following four criteria:

• Currency
• Reliability
• Authority
• Purpose.

Reference management software helps you to collect, manage, organise and cite academic sources. The ZHB offers courses on Citavi.