Skip to Main Content
Montana State University - Home Montana State University Library - Home Ask the Library

ENSC 499: LRES Capstone

ENSC 499 Research Handout

Research is a Process

Research is a process. 1, Choose a topic. 2, Searching Basics. 3, Find Sources. 4, Evaluate information. 5, Cite sources.

Thanks to the University of Oregon Libraries for allowing remix of this graphic under a Creative Commons license.

"Research is a Process" infographic accessible description.

Google Search Tips

Search within a Specific Site or Domain
Precede your query with site: if you know you want your answer from within a specific site or type of site (.org, .edu). For example: site:edu or site:nytimes.com.

Search by File Type
Search for specific types of files, such as PDFs, PPTs, or XLS, by adding filetype: and the 3-letter file abbreviation.

Include or Ignore Words and Characters in Your Search
Highlight common words and characters such as the and & if they are essential to your search (as in a movie or book title) by putting quotation marks "the" around them. You can also use the minus - sign to specify particular items you don't want in your results, like ingredients in a recipe.

Similar Terms
Get results that include synonyms by placing the ~ sign immediately in front of your search term. A search for Christmas ~dessert recipes, for instance, will return results for desserts, along with candy, cookies and other treats.

Other Tips and Tricks

  • Minus sign for NOT. ex hellbender –movie
  • Hellbender Site:.gov or Hellbender site:www.fws.gov to search either a specific domain or a specific website
  • Quotes for exact terms “eastern hellbender”
  • Asterisk as a wildcard place holder  eastern hellbend* will return hellbends, hellbender, hellbending, etc.
  • OR use OR between search terms to find one of several words salamander OR hellbender

For more help see the Google Search Tips page

Government Information

Databases