ENGL 127 Research Writing: Social Sciences

For students doing research on social science topics

One Search for an Overview

Holman Library One Search

The One Search looks in all Holman Library databases at once, which makes it useful for getting an overview of the conversation on a topic.

What should you type in? Simple key words that capture what you want to learn about.

For example, if I type in college OR "higher education" OR university AND "first generation students" (as in image below)

(Click on image to enlarge)

A search of education AND first gen students

I get over 19,000 results on a range of topics, including:

  • the impact of social class
  • faculty roles, mentorship
  • attrition and retention
  • aspirations
  • engagement
  • underperformance
  • identify
  • immigrant first-generation students
  • understanding faculty expectations
  • parents
  • friendship with other students
  • academic citizenship
  • and much more. 

I cannot address all these dimensions in my paper, but I can choose specific aspects of my broad topic to focus on.

Don't forget to use the limiters on the left of the search results! You can limit to:

  • materials available online
  • print materials (+DVDs) available inside the library
  • current sources
  • as well as sources by type, subject, and more. In the image below, I limit to peer reviewed sources online.

(Click on image to enlarge)

One Search Results: Image points to number of sources returned in search; icons to see citations, email, save, and more; limiters by source type, viewing online, and peer review.

Why One Search?

Holman Library One Search

The library's One Search searches for resources in all of our databases at once. 

This can be a helpful way to get a sense of the scope of issues on a topic, and that, in turn, can help you find a focus for your research.

Search Tips:

Use AND to narrow and focus your search.

  • Ex: TRIO AND college success

Use OR to search for synonyms and related words.

  • Ex: college OR university 

Put exact phrases in quotation marks.

  • Ex: "first generation students"

Look for additional search terms as you go - and add them to your keyword list.

Try a range of search words to find the most relevant sources and to gather a range of perspectives on your topic.