Librarians are here to help.
Use the button below to make an individual research appointment with a librarian through the AU Academic SupportNet calendar.
Please note that librarians are not able to help with writing, editing, or citations. For help with those topics, please make an appointment with a writing tutor.
Spartan Search is the search box on the library's home page. When you click the magnifying glass search icon, a full search screen will open, giving you the option to use the advanced search and filter your results.
Learn more about choosing where to search.
You can even get started with your search right here.
Identify keywords for your topic and brainstorm narrower, broader, and related terms.
Example: Factors that affect academic performance in first-generation college students.
Academic Performance | College | First-Generation Students |
Student Success | Higher Education | Children of Immigrants |
Student Achievement | University | Minority Students |
Learning Outcomes | Community College | Nontraditional Students |
Typing the Boolean Operators AND, OR, and NOT into the library catalog or databases allow you to broaden or narrow your results.
Add more keywords.
Adding additional keywords to your search can help to further narrow your topic.
Example: college AND first-generation students AND academic performance
Use OR.
Broaden your search by using OR to link your terms.
Example: (college OR higher education OR university) AND first-generation students AND (academic performance OR student success)
Once you find a good article:
Information & Research Help
630-844-5437 (phone)
630-844-3848 (fax)
630-796-7615 (text)
Interlibrary Loan
630-844-5439