ENGL 2245 -- Science Fiction: Finding Articles

Keyword Search Tips:

1. Always use quotations marks around your keyword phrases. For example: “science fiction"
2. Create complex, highly specific searches with the Boolean Operator AND.  For example: “cyberpunk” and critic*
3. The asterisk * allows you to find various endings for your search term.  For example, critic* finds critic, critics, critical, critically, criticism, etc.

You can also do a Keyword Search using the name of an author (first name then last name: “Mary Shelley”) or the title of a work (“Brave New World”).

Using Subject Headings:

When you retrieve a catalog record for a book that seems interesting, look at the Subject Headings for that book.  The Subject Headings are located in the bibliographic record.  You can also find them in database records.  Click on a Subject link (in blue) or do a Subject Search on that topic to find more information. The broad subject for science fiction is Science Fiction.

To find information about an author, do a Subject Search by typing in the last name first. For example: gibson, william

To find critical works about science fiction, do a Subject Search by simply typing in the words science fiction.

In addition to general databases such as FiSH or Academic Search Complete (which cover all subject areas), there are some very useful literary databases for specialized searching.