HPERD Research Guide
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Research Steps |
Library Research Services |
NOTE: The health, physical education, recreation and dance disciplines as a group will be referred to as HPERD in this guide.
- Before beginning research,
state the topic of the search concisely (in one sentence). An example of
a search statement which is expressed concisely is:
What are the health risks of steroid use in American high school athletes? - From this search statement identify the main concepts of the search. In the above search statement, steroids and health risks would represent the two main concepts of the search. Using the concepts of the age group high school athletes and the geographic area of America would enable the search to be narrowed even further.
- Brainstorm a list of keyword synonyms for each concept identified above. Use these keywords throughout a search to find variant terms used to describe the main concepts. Different indexes may use different terminology to categorize the same concept. (Remember, as the search progresses, some new keywords will be discovered to add to the list and some keywords on the list in the beginning will be discarded if found to be inappropriate.) Sample lists of keyword synonyms are shown below for finding information on the topic of steroid use in American high school athletes:
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Concept 1: steroid use |
Concept 2: health risks |
Concept 3: high school athletes (age group) |
Concept 4: America (geographic region) |
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anabolic steroids |
adverse side effects |
grades 8-12 |
us |
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steroid abuse |
physiological effects |
secondary education |
united states |
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performance enhancing drugs |
clinical problems |
junior high school students |
usa |
- Link to University of Minnesota Libraries' Choosing Effective Keywords page for a further discussion of how to choose and apply keywords in a search.
- At the start of a research project, consult specialized dictionaries or encyclopedias to obtain a concise overview of a concept, school of thought, or a particular person's contribution to HPERD. The HPERD Sources in Owens Library page contains a list of specialized dictionaries and encyclopedias available in Owens Library applicable to HPERD assignments.
- If statistical information is needed, link to the Statistics Sources page, the Government Information page or the American Library Association's Health Statistics page.
- Subject Searching:
Subject headings and subdivisions are categories used in the Library Catalog to classify the content of books and other materials available in Owens Library. A subject search can be narrowly focused and if it is successful produce relevant results. If a subject search does not produce good results try a keyword search. There are many related terms for subject headings under health, physical education, recreation or dance. Click on the following hyperlinks to view the related terms for health, physical education, recreation, and dance. Health, physical education, recreation and dance subject headings often have several subdivisions. Typically the subdivisions for these areas are structured as shown below:
Geographic location -- Time Period
Examples of various HPERD subject headings are given below:
Dancing -- Italy -- History -- 16th century
Health -- United States -- History
Physical education and training -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century
Sports -- United States -- History -- 20th century
When entering subject headings in the library catalog search form leave off all punctuation and capital letters. For the subject heading Recreation -- United States -- History enter recreation united states history.
Many prominent figures in the field of HPERD have subject headings which can refer to books or other items available in Owens Library with biographical information and critical evaluations of their work. Subject headings for individuals appear like the examples shown below. When entering a person's name as a subject heading in the library catalog search form leave off all punctuation and capital letters. For the subject heading Cunningham, Merce enter cunningham merce:
Cunningham, Merce, 1922*-
- Keyword Searching:
Citations for books and other materials in Owens Library on HPERD may also be retrieved by using a keyword search. With keyword searching, search terms can be combined with the operators and, or, not. A sample keyword search is shown below:
football and weight lifting
Read tips for subject and keyword searching in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Library Catalog.
Truncation allows users to stem words or retrieve root words with several endings. The truncation symbol in the Library Catalog is a question mark (*). The search shown below will locate records in the Library Catalog that include the words athlete, athletes, or athletics.
athlet*
Keyword searches may include nesting. In the search below, the nested terms enclosed in parentheses will be searched first and the results of that search will be added to the other term, wom#n with the "and" connector. Nested terms within the parentheses are usually combined with an "or" connector:
wom#n and (weight lifting or strength training or body building or conditioning )
Qualifying a search allows users to look for information in a specific field of a catalog record such as the author, title, subject or note field. The search shown below locates the word nutrition in records with aged in the su (subject) field only.
nutrition and su aged
- Read tips about truncating, nesting, and qualifying searches in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Library Catalog.
- Use Berkeley's site for Other Library Catalogs to search for books not available in at Owens Library. Order these books through Interlibrary Loan.
Use periodical indexes to locate article citations and summaries on HPERD topics. InfoTrac and EBSCOhost also provide selected online full-text articles as well as article citations and summaries.
- A concise list of indexes appropriate for HPERD is available on the Health/Physical Education/Recreation/Dance Databses page.
- For a description of indexes appropriate for HPERD research check the Find HPERD Articles section of the HPERD Sources in Owens Library page.
- Be sure to use the keyword synonyms formulated at the beginning of the search and refined during the library catalog search as search terms in the periodical indexes. Concepts for HPERD topics may be referred to by variant terms. Different indexes may use different terms to describe the same concept.
- The truncation symbol for most periodical indexes available on the Search for Articles page is an asterisk (*).
- Use the bibliography entitled HPERD Sources to locate the best HPERD research materials available in Owens Library.
- Search for HPERD topics in the Library Catalog. Read the Catalog Search Tips listed above to learn how to focus search strategy for HPERD topics.
- Use the bibliographies in books, journal articles, Web documents or other sources to identify related information about HPERD topics. Sources not available in Owens Library may be ordered through Interlibrary Loan.
Select & Evaluate World Wide Web Resources:
- Use the HPERD WWW Resources page to locate Internet resources recommended by Owens Library information professionals.
- Use the Search Engine Tips & Tricks page to learn how to enter focused, efficient searches in Internet search engines recommended by Owens Library information professionals.
- Evaluate the HPERD Web sites found with search engines using the criteria suggested on the Evaluating Web Resources page.
Return to Course/Subject Resources