Montgomery College Library > Pat Semple, Librarian > MCPS Roberto Clemente MS Humanities & Communication Magnet Program

Having trouble? Send an e-mail to pat.semple@montgomerycollege.edu or linda.fortney@montgomerycollege.edu, or call a librarian at the reference desk in Germantown (240-567-7858) or Rockville (240-567-7130).

A search expression that uses Boolean operators is one of the best ways to pinpoint information in a library catalog, database, or search engine. There are three components to Boolean search expressions:

• Keywords: tend to be the nouns that best describe a topic
• Boolean Operators: AND, OR, and NOT
• Punctuation: quotation marks for phrases, parentheses with OR, asterisks (*) for truncation in a database of articles, question mark (?) for truncation in MC Library Catalog

Here are some sample searches using keywords and Boolean operators:

"bird flu" OR "avian flu" OR "avian influenza"

"global warming" AND (oceans OR "marine life" OR coast)

pakistan AND (women OR girls OR female)

(child* OR youth) AND obesity

"chesapeake bay" AND estrogen

"water pollution" AND legisl*

children AND (television OR tv) AND violence

iraq AND shiites AND sunnis

india AND "child labor"

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Find Book In Catalog: Go to the library's homepage, find the link for MC Library Catalog, and set "Select Search Type" to Keyword Boolean. Enter a short search expression; remember, books tend to be about broader topics:

africa AND (hiv OR aids)

"global warming"

child? AND illness

gangs

Set One Limit: Remember that one of your options is to limit your search to a particular campus, to the last five years, to e-books, to video (DVDs, VHS tapes), or to audio (CDs, cassette tapes).

Renew Books Online: Go into MC Library Catalog and use the My Account button at the top of the page.

Help: Speak to the reference librarian on duty or call the reference desk:

Germantown: 240-567-7853

Rockville: 240-567-7130

Takoma Park Silver Spring: 240-567-1536

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Searching: Go to the library's homepage, find the link for the "Databases By Subject," and locate one of the databases on the list below. (If you are on campus, you can just click on title in the list below.) Enter a search expression; remember, you can narrow your topic quite a bit when looking for an article:

"family farms" AND bankruptcy

"montgomery county" AND ("intercounty connector" OR icc)

maryland AND invasive AND ("aquatic species" OR fish)

africa AND ("river blindness" OR onchocerciasis)

Sorting: Results can be sorted by date (most recent first) or relevance (highest occurrence of keywords).

Printing: For trouble-free printing, use the Print button in the database.

Help: Read the Help or Search Tips information for the database; speak to the reference librarian on duty; or call the reference desk:

Germantown: 240-567-7853

Rockville: 240-567-7130

Takoma Park Silver Spring: 240-567-1536

National Newspapers

Includes the last few decades of The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journals, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Baltimore Sun. For opinion pieces, include the word "editorial" in your search expressions.

SIRS Knowledge Source

Remember to set the search mode to "Keyword/Natural Language" before entering search expression, or use the directory to drill down.

Opposing Viewpoints

Use blue Subject Headings on opening page to search by topic. Can also be searched using Boolean search expressions; select "Search By Keyword."

Academic Search Premier

The College's largest database.

Expanded Academic ASAP

To sort by relevance, user must select Relevance in blue menu bar before starting search.

CQ Researcher

Less is more; search on single word or short phrase for 30-page reports.

CQ Weekly

Search on single word or short phrase.

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Limit Domains in Google: To limit your Google search to reputable Web sites, enter the domain you are interested in searching in front of your search terms:

site:edu     or     site:gov

    or     site:org

site:gov "national parks"

site:org "chesapeake bay"

site:edu "stem cell research"

Other News Sources

NPR

Enter a short search expressions in the "Search NPR.org" box; notice that you can arrange your results list by date or relevance. (National Public Radio)

PBS

Start with the drop-down menu labeled "Explore > by topic ... " (Public Broadcasting Network)

CNN.com

After entering a short search expression, make sure to move radio button to "Search CNN.com" (CNN)

National Information

FirstGov

(U.S. Government Official Portal)

International Information

Country Studies

This site contains "the on-line versions of books previously published...by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. The original intent...was to focus primarily on lesser known areas of the world...[therefore,] the series is not all-inclusive." (Library of Congress)

The World Factbook

"The World Factbook is prepared...for the use of US Government officials, and the style, format, coverage, and content are designed to meet their specific requirements." (Central Intelligence Agency)

BBC News: Country Profiles

Search by country for articles, timelines, and essays. (British Broadcasting Corporation)

International Organizations

United Nations: Global Issues On the U.N. Agenda

(United Nations)

UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

(United Nations)

World Bank: Data & Statistics

(World Bank)

Medical & Health

MedLinePlus

   EXCELLENT !

Excellent source. (U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health)

Centers For Disease Control and Prevention

   EXCELLENT !

Excellent source. (U.S. Government, Department of Health & Human Services)

The World Health Organization

(The World Health Organization)

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The library has six-page handout on MLA citation style: MLA Citations: The Works Cited Page.

The library is located in Macklin Tower. It is located on the western-most part of the campus and is the tallest building. Here are driving directions and a map of the campus.

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