Tip 1: Unless you are looking for a particular item, or honing in on a particular topic, your first search should be a general keyword search.
Tip 2: Then use the facets on the left column to reduce results to those most relevant to your needs.
Tip 3: For items that are not available online (and don't restrict yourself to online resources!) always pay attention to the library location, item status, and call numbers in the library record. Also be sure to note whether the material is shelved in the regular, oversized (+), or double oversized (++) sections.
The Articles & Full Text feature on the main Library web page allows you to perform simple searches across multiple databases/article indexes. Because the various databases are structured differently, search results may vary widely. For more precise searching, it's best to search the databases individually. Choosing Databases from the pulldown menu and clicking on Search will display a select ("greatest hits") listing by subject area. You can also search for individual d3atabases through the library catalog.