World Languages: Find Sources: Specific Languages (Spanish, French, etc.)

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Research, Culture & History:

The MC Library has access to images, streaming videos and audio, as well as DVDs and CDs. Different types of video and audio include documentaries, educational videos, mainstream movies, radio interviews, and podcasts.

When & Why to Use Images or Media:

• You need to include an expert's point of view, and a documentary or podcast on your topic includes an interview.
• You're doing a cultural presentation project and need to include images, video, or music.

Search for Images and Media on World Languages:

Unlike Google, library databases can't understand an entire sentence. You'll need to break your topic down into the most important ideas: the keywords. Keywords are individual words or short phrases that represent the main ideas in your topic, thesis, or research question. 

Example Question: What cultural holidays are typically celebrated in Spain?  

Keywords: culture, holidays, Spain

After you've identified your main ideas and some keywords to start with, think of additional search terms for each concept. These can be synonyms, related ideas, broader terms, or narrower terms. Since a database will match only what you type, using different terms for similar ideas can help you find more articles. 

Example Search Terms: 

• culture: traditions
• holidays: festivals, celebrations
• Spain

Click on the research issue you're having below to see tips for addressing it:

I'm Not Finding Enough Sources

I'm Finding Too Many Sources

I'm Finding Irrelevant Sources

None of These Tips Solved My Research Issue

Not Finding Enough Sources

• Type the word OR between related search terms to get results containing either term. Put the related search terms in parentheses.
  • Example: culture and (festivals or holidays) and Spain
  • Example: government and regulate and (internet or "social media")
  
• Use a truncation character (often the asterisk, *, but it can vary by search tool), which is a symbol added to the root of a word to tell the search tool that you want all forms of that word. 
  • Example: elect* will search for elect, election, elector, electoral, electorate, electing, etc.
• Use a wildcard character (often the hash sign, #, but it can vary by search tool), which is a symbol that replaces any character in a word.
  • Example: wom#n will search for woman or women.

Finding Too Many Sources

• Type the word AND between the main ideas in your search to get results containing all ideas.
  • Example: culture and holidays and Spain
  • Example: government and regulate and internet and "free speech"
  

Finding Irrelevant Sources

• Type the word NOT before a search term that you do not want your search results to contain.
  • Example: election not "united states"
  
• Type quotation marks around a specific phrase to get search results that contain only that exact phrase.
  • Example: "social media"
• Use the search tool's filters to target search results that will meet your needs. You'll find filters on the search results screen. The exact location and filtering options varies by search tool.
  • Example: use a publication date filter to find sources published in the last five years.
  • Example: use a source type filter to find only articles or only videos.

If the options above did not help you find useful results, you may want to:

• change your search terms,
• select a different search tool,
• make your topic broader or narrower, or
• get research help from a librarian.

Research Skills & Tips:

After you've selected your search tool, identified keywords, and fixed research issues, it's time to choose your sources. It is common to get more search results than you will use, so you must evaluate the sources you find to choose the best ones for your research.

Start by scanning the search results to locate sources that fit your research question or need. The search results page will include information about each source, such as the title, year, and abstract, to help you determine its relevance.

Once you've found a source you'd like to use, evaluate its credibility by considering the evidence, source, context, audience, purpose, and execution of the source. Learn more on the Evaluate Information and Fake News guide linked below.

Research Skills & Tips:

Some MC Library databases provide access to articles written in languages other than English. Usually, you will be able to choose settings on an Advanced Search screen. This may look different, depending what database you use, but the general process should be similar. 

To search for articles in another language in RaptorSearch: 

1. Go to the database search page (linked below)
2. Select "Advanced Search"
3. On the right side of the advanced search form, select from the Language dropdown
4. Enter your search terms in the language selected, and click Search

Note: You can also limit by language after you complete your search. See the filter options on the left side of the results screen. 

To search for articles in another language in Academic Search Complete: 

1. Go to the database search page (linked below)
2. Select "Advanced Search"
3. Scroll to the bottom of the Advanced Search screen, to the "Language" box
4. Select the language you would like the results to be written in
5. Scroll back to the top of the search screen, enter the search terms in the selected language, and click Search

To search for news articles in another language in Ethnic Newswatch:

1. Go to the database search page (link below)
2. Select "Advanced Search" 
3. Scroll to the middle of the page and select the checkbox for the appropriate language 
4. Enter your search terms in the language selected, and click Search