Navigating Databases for Further Research
In order to get an objective idea of the differences between databases, use multiple search words in conjunction to find the topic that you are looking for. Keep in mind that broad terms will give you broad results, meaning that if you look for "slavery" and "America" that you won't just find information about what is going on today, but the entire historical context as well.
1) Human (and)
2) Trafficking (and)
3) Prostitution
Use the "AND" function on advanced searches. For example, one can find information on child slavery by searching a) child AND b) trafficking AND c) forced labor. Something that needs to be decided is what KIND of human trafficking you're looking for; if you're looking for forced labor of families in the brick industry, then you're most likely to get results if you exclude prostitution and the sex trade. There is typically very little crossover between these two types of slavery, with the exception of women and young girls who are forced to perform sexual acts for their bosses, in order to pay off their family debts.
In this case, you would want to try
1) "child trafficking" AND
2) labor NOT
3) prostitution
Using quotation marks " , an asterisk * , and other joining words (and, but, not) can all help you to narrow down the subject that you are researching.
Worldcat, JSTOR, and ScienceDirect all come back with results, though very different ones. If you are fluent in a non-English language, you can open search preferences to include results in that language.
- Worldcat – 72 results, only 66 in English
- JSTOR – 30 results, all pertaining to the subject at hand
- ScienceDirect- Thousands of results, mostly pertaining to biology, though a few good articles
1) Human (and)
2) Trafficking (and)
3) Prostitution
Use the "AND" function on advanced searches. For example, one can find information on child slavery by searching a) child AND b) trafficking AND c) forced labor. Something that needs to be decided is what KIND of human trafficking you're looking for; if you're looking for forced labor of families in the brick industry, then you're most likely to get results if you exclude prostitution and the sex trade. There is typically very little crossover between these two types of slavery, with the exception of women and young girls who are forced to perform sexual acts for their bosses, in order to pay off their family debts.
In this case, you would want to try
1) "child trafficking" AND
2) labor NOT
3) prostitution
Using quotation marks " , an asterisk * , and other joining words (and, but, not) can all help you to narrow down the subject that you are researching.
Worldcat, JSTOR, and ScienceDirect all come back with results, though very different ones. If you are fluent in a non-English language, you can open search preferences to include results in that language.
- Worldcat – 72 results, only 66 in English
- JSTOR – 30 results, all pertaining to the subject at hand
- ScienceDirect- Thousands of results, mostly pertaining to biology, though a few good articles