Sample Search Examples

This page provides screen images of three possible searches for books, scholarly articles, and newspaper articles dealing with Japanese American students at the UW during World War II.  Some things to keep in mind:

  • Some search statements and keywords will work better in some databases than others
  • Try multiple search statements in each database
  • Use the language of the period when searching primary source databases
  • Some databases are clunkier than others, keeping searches simple works best
  • If there is an advanced search option available, use it. Oftentimes there are additional features available on the advance search screen. Plus multiple search boxes are easier to use and may not require so many boolean operators

UW Libraries Search

UW Libraries Search serves as the catalog to the Libraries. It contains citation information (records) on the items we own (books, journals, films), however its coverage goes beyond the UW Libraries, by providing information on articles in all fields plus books held by our partner Summit libraries (academic libraries in the Pacific Northwest). This search screen illustrates searching for material owned by the UW Libraries. Note that I changed the "Show Only" option from "Articles, Books, and More" to "UW Libraries."

UW Libraries Search example

On the results screen, use the toolbar to narrow the results by availability (online), resource type (e.g., eVideo), publication date, language, and more.

America History & Life

America History & Life Links to an external site. is the major database for identifying journal articles (also includes book reviews and some dissertations) in the field of American and Canadian history. A companion database, Historical Abstracts Links to an external site., covers modern history (1450 onward) for the rest of the world. Both databases include some full text article and links to other full text when available.

America History & Life sample search

On the results screen, use the toolbar to narrow the results by excluding book reviews, focusing on a subject, publication year, language. and more.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer Links to an external site. newspaper (web only since 2009) is available from 1901 onward.  When searching full-text primary source databases it is important to use the terminology from the time period. In the 1940s, Japanese Americans were often referred to as "Nisei" (second generation) while African Americans would be referred to as "Negroes." Be aware that primary sources may include  offensive language that reflect the attitudes and the biases of the time. Whenever using a historic newspaper or magazine database be sure to use the publication date option if available. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer database is fairly clunky so it is best to keep searches simple. Use the Advanced Search option and add additional boxes by clicking on the plus (+).

Seattle PI search example

This search looks for all of the keywords anywhere on the same page of the newspaper so that there may be one article that mentions "nisei" while another article mentions "university of washington" -- the keywords are not necessarily in the same article so many irrelevant items show up in the results.  For example, this search brings up 2 separate articles from October 8, 1942: "1,000 U. of W. Students to Pick Apples" and "U.S. Jury Finds 2 Japs Guilty."

Keep in mind that databases differ in content, search options, and availability to narrow results. Searching is a process of trial and error.

Tips:

  • Use your secondary sources to provide leads to primary sources. Follow those footnotes. This is especially useful when trying to find newspaper articles. A footnote will provide you with the headline and date, making it easier to locate in a digitized historic newspaper.
  • If you use Google Scholar to search for secondary sources, be sure to connect Google Scholar to the UW Libraries so that you can access our online ejournal articles.

Optional Activities: