Combine concepts with AND to find more relevant sources
picasso AND Africa
internet AND privacy
bedrock AND Massachusetts AND hydrology
Use “double quotes” to find exact phrases
"rock art"
“African diaspora”
“invertible matrix”
Use proximity searching* to find words near each other
women NEAR violence
progressive NEAR/10 tax
"global warming" NEAR/20 "sea level"
*Proximity searching works differently in different databases. Check the help section of the database to learn how to properly use it.
Use ORs and parentheses to combine synonyms or multiple topics
(oil OR petroleum OR crude)
(antibiotic OR antiviral)
(woman OR girl OR female)
Truncate roots of important words* to find plurals and more
perform* (searches for perform, performance, performativity, etc.)
cell$
pregnan!
Insert a “wild card” [*?$!] to catch words with different spellings
wom?n
coloni#ation
odo$r
*Truncation and wild cards work differently in different databases. Check the help section of the database to learn what symbol to use and how to properly use it.
When looking for original, chemical research, you will need to find journal articles. Use the suggested databases on the Chemistry Subject page to find information related to your topic. View the links below to review the differences between scholarly and popular articles, to see how scholarly articles are organized, and to review the process of peer-review.
Many of our databases have this 
button, which searches for the full-text of the article in our collections. If we don't have it electronically, look for the "Request article scan" link in the "Get It" section.
Other ways to get help:
Call us at 413-597-4500
Text us at 413-648-6071
Stop by during our service hours.