For this week's discussion you need to find articles on change or strategic change from a field other than Education. To do this you can either choose a database from another field, or use Thoreau, our multi-database search tool.

In the boxes below you'll find information about:

• Locating a database for your search
• Building a search
• Citing the articles you find

You can access the Library's databases by going to clicking on the Research by Subject box on the Library homepage and selecting a subject area.  You can also use the Library's multi-database search tool, Thoreau.

Subject Databases

A subject database focuses on one particular subject area, such as business, education, or psychology. To select a subject area and database, follow these steps:

1. From the library website, go to the Research by Subject box. 
   
   
    
2. Click on Research by Subject and choose one of the subject areas you are interested in from the drop-down list.  This will bring you to that subject areas Research page where you can access subject-specific databases.
3. Select a database from the list. The most-recommended database for each subject area is listed first. You may need to log in with your myWalden user name and password.

Thoreau

Thoreau is a "discovery tool," which means that it searches for articles, books, videos and other resources from a variety of different subject areas. It does not cover all of the Walden Library's collections, but it does include a very large proportion. It's a good tool when you're looking for information that is cross-disciplinary, or that may be published in journals from multiple subject areas.  

1. From the Library homepage, click the Start Your Research link in the toolbar along the top of the page.
   
   
    
2. In the Search by database box, click on Thoreau Multi-database Search link.
   
   
    
3. To access the advanced search feature, click on the Go to Thoreau’s Advanced Search link in the Search Thoreau box.  You may need to log in with your myWalden user name and password. 
4. Once you are in a database, you will be ready to build your search. See the box below for advice about building a keyword search in a database.

Although each database will look a bit different, they all follow the same basic structure and offer many of the same options.

Below are examples of the same search in both a subject database and Thoreau.

1. Type your keywords into the search boxes. Place keywords for a single concept into one box, using "or" between each one. This tells the database to find articles that have any of those terms.
   
   For example, first search box:  
   
   change or strategic change
   
   
    
2. If you are using Thoreau, you may want to add a search keyword related to the subject area. If you don't, your results list will include results from all subject areas, including Education.
   
   For example, first search box:
   
   change or strategic change
   
   Second search box:
   
   business
   
   
   
   Learn more about OR and other Boolean operators.
    
3. Add limits to your search. The limits you choose will depend on what you need to find. Check the Scholarly Peer-Reviewed box, if the database you are using includes the option. You can also add a date limit.
   
   Learn more about database limiters.
   Learn more about peer review.
   
   
    
4. In Thoreau, you'll see the same limits but in a slightly different location.
   
   
    
5. Click the Search button. To see the full text of the article, click the PDF Full Text or HTML Full Text link under the article result.

All citations will need to be created using the rules in the APA's 6th edition manual. Here are some resources that can help you create/edit your citations:

• Citing Electronic Articles
   
• Common Reference List Examples
   
• How do I find a DOI?
   
• How do I cite an article without a DOI?