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COM100: Introduction to Human Communication

This guide was designed to support students enrolled in COM100, however, others researching communication might also find the content useful.

GCC Library Databases - choose from a variety of databases by subject.

GCC Library Communications Databases- choose from a variety of communications databases.

What is a database?

A database is used to store information.  The information must be retrievable.  In the case of library databases, keywords or search terms are used to access the stored information, which includes among other resources e-books and articles.     

Keywords

Sentences or sentence fragments should not be used when database searching.  Instead, researchers should use keyword or phrase searching.  

Think of words that best describe the topic you are searching.  Quotation marks are used to identify phrase searching (for example, "hand hygeine").

Concepts can be identified using various words so it is helpful to identify synonyms or related terms as well. Use narrower and broader terms to decrease and increase results, respectively.   

Keyword(s)/phrase(s) Soccer
Synonyms Football, Association football
Narrower/broader terms Team sports, ball games, indoor soccer
Related terms  Soccer injuries, soccer fields, soccer equipment

Develop a list of keywords that can be used in a search for information related to the topic nutrition

Include, synonyms, narrower, broader and related terms.  

Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-Alike License Tag

All guides are available under the CC-BY-NC-SA license.