Organizational Learning, Innovation, and Development: Literature Review Resources

To find scholarly materials on your topic, you will need to understand the thesauri for the different databases you will be searching. You will also need to develop a list of terms and keywords that you use to search databases looking for new materials to add to your literature review.

Let's begin with a sample topic:

Safety policies in K-12 schools, specifically relating to weapons

What are the concepts represented in this topic?

Weapons

Policies

K-12 schools

Safety

What are some synonyms that might be used in books, articles, presentations, dissertations, and reports that address each of the facets of this research topic?

Use the Thesaurus of each database to identify the appropriate "controlled vocabulary" for that database. Add these terms to your list. Try searching with different combinations of terms.

When you find a relevant source, examine the subject descriptors or terms that have been applied to that source. Add any new terms you find to your list. Use the terms to search by keyword in the databases, on the web, and elsewhere to identify new materials. Always review the references on each relevant item to identify other materials you should obtain.

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5. When you find a resource in Google Scholar, don't try to access it with the title!!!!  Click on the Find Full Text @ Morris link.