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STEM Capstone: Databases

Use this guide to help you locate information from the open web and databases to support your STEM project.

Using Databases for Research

Explore these databases to find digitized articles from authoritative magazines, journals, newspapers, and books. 

  • Take advantage of the databases' citation tools to get your APA citation.
  • Remember to either email or download the article so you can refer to it later.
  • To access databases off-campus, use the login and password provided to you in class, or email the librarian.

All Databases at Bullis Library

Keyword Searching

As you brainstorm about your topic, make a short list of nouns that relate to your subject. These are the keywords you will use to search for information from the databases. Use the following terms in combination with your keywords to improve your research results:

  • AND combines two keywords to narrow search results
    • drones AND military 
  • OR combines two similar concepts to broaden search results
    • drones OR "unmanned aerial vehicle"
  • NOT excludes records containing the second keyword
    •  drones NOT bees
  • Use quotation marks around keywords that are phrases
    • "unmanned aerial vehicle"
  • Use truncation (*) to expand a keyword search to anything with the word stem
    • scien* --> science, scientific, scientists

Science Databases

Science databases will provide articles that focus on your topic from a scientific, technological, engineering, or mathematical perspective. 

General Databases

When you search a general database, results come from a wider range of sources, so you can learn about your topic from a multiple perspectives, not just from a science angle.