Drake Memorial Library - Frequently Asked Questions

If you are completing your social work case study assignment, here are some tips and tricks to help you! You'll also find a class handout!

1. Read through your assignment

Read the case study and come up with your research question. Your research question should not be a yes/no question. Generally questions that start with What or How are great.

2. Develop your Keywords

Next, look at your research question and generate keywords.

1. Write down the keyword and then underneath it write down any related terms that come to mind. For example if you research question has the word aging in it, related words might be senior, elderly, or older
2. If you need a refresher, this module can help: Selecting Keywords to Search - Practice: Brainstorming Synonyms (auburn.edu).
3. If you would like a video walk through, see this video: Selecting and Using Keywords (UWF)

3. Search in multiple places

There are three different places you might want to search. I'm listing them in what I think will be the most useful order, but depending on your topic this could be wrong. Remember to limit to peer-reviewed articles in the last 10 years. 

Library Search: https://brockport.edu/library

• Video walkthrough: Finding articles using the Main search bar - YouTube

Social Work Databases: ​​​​​​​https://library.brockport.edu/socialwork

• Video walkthrough: EBSCOhost Advanced Searching - Tutorial - YouTube

Google Scholar: ​​​​​​​https://brockport.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://scholar.google.com

• Video walkthrough: Google Scholar and Article Lookup by Citation - YouTube

4. Reach out if you need more help

If you're still having trouble finding things, chat with a librarian or submit a ticket at https://brockport.libanswers.com.