English, American, and World Literature

1. Start by identifying the major concepts, themes, works, or authors that you want to research. These are your keywords. Only type your keywords into the search box- don't try to type in an entire thesis statement or research question. 

2. Most of the time, you'll either have too many search results to sort through, or too few to choose from. Use the following tips to expand or limit your search results as needed. These tips should work in most library databases. Some databases have additional or different tips you can try. When you're in a database, look for a link labeled "Help" or "Search Help" for information specific to that database.

Chart taken from Honors College Co-Curricular Workshops LibGuide, Lone Star College Library, Kingwood, TX

Tips for making the most of MLA Bibliography

• Create an account so you can save searches and folders to return to later
• Set up search alerts to get notifications when new content is added to your search
• Familiarize yourself with the many fields you can search. This is the drop-down box next to the search box that says "Select a Field."
• Use MLA's Thesaurus and Indexes (located in the blue bar at the top of the page) to identify the best subject terms for your topic.

Tutorials for all of these features and more are available on our research guide for MLA Bibliography.