Thoroughly understand what you are looking for and define your topic. Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question.
You need to look for alternative terms or keywords that describe each concept to use as search terms.
Once you have identified the question, the type, and amount of information needed for your purpose, select the appropriate information resource - it may be a database to locate recent journal articles, a catalog to find books, or a Web search engine to identify a practice guideline.
Other non-subscribed databases such as EMBASE, Chemical Abstracts, and Foundation Directory can be searched by a librarian for a fee. To request a search on a specific database that is not available to the general public, click here to submit a request.
If you have the exact citation or reference to a journal article - use the Library's catalog Virgo to see if the Library owns the print or online copy. If not, use the ILL service to obtain a copy.
To find the location and call number of all the books owned by the University of Virginia, use the online catalog called Virgo. You can also search for books owned by other US libraries by using WorldCat.
Review: STEPS 1-3 to make sure that your search is comprehensive; the information you find has credibility, usefulness, and quality.
How to document your search (PDF)
All writing guides are shelved in the Library's Reference Section 7 behind the Reference Desk. Online versions of some writing guides can be found in our Electronic Reference Desk [For example: APA, AMA, and NLM ]
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