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RPW 440

Search Tips

Sometimes you may not find information on your particular topic or nonprofit--that's okay! You can always broaden your topic by using keywords or phrases that are related to, similar to your topic and then you can relate the information found, to the local nonprofit selected. 

As an example if you are doing your research on the Cardinal Food Pantry, you can search phrases like:

  • "food pantry" 
  • "food bank"
  • "Community Kitchen"

You can often find additional terms that are frequently used by writers and scholars by looking under the title for each result where it says "Subjects":

 

 

Scholarly Vs. Popular Sources

 

Scholarly​

Popular​

Authors​

Experts such as scientists, professors, and historians ​

Generalists; bloggers, staff writers, journalist, etc. ​

Examples​

Journal of Applied Psychology, Communication Disorders Quarterly, University of Michigan Press, Chemical Reviews​

Wikipedia, USA Today, People Magazine, Time, Washington Post, Best selling books​

Focus​

Specific and in depth​

Broad Overviews​

Citations​

Include bibliographies, citations, and/or foot notes that follow an academic style. ​

No formal citations, included; may sometimes informally attribute sources in text. ​

Before Publication​

Peer-reviewed; evaluated by other experts​

Edited by in house editors; sometimes not edited at all. ​

Audience & Purpose​

Directed towards other specialists in the area, students, etc. Often used to education and communicate research findings.​

General readers; usually meant for entertainment or news​

Language​

Uses specialized language and jargon for the field. ​

Tends to use more common language. ​

Using AI Responsibly

For questions or problems concerning access to the library's online resources, please contact Beth Johns. or Matthew Anderson.