Topic overviews, contrasting viewpoints, articles, primary source documents, statistics, videos, and recommended websites covering specific issues.
Articles from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference sources from all subject areas. Includes images, audio pronunciation files, maps, and data tables.
Collection of encyclopedias, dictionaries and handbooks covering a variety of subject areas.
There is a tendency for people to type general questions into a database and hope for the best. While this barely works for Google, it definitely doesn't work well with the databases. By identifying the more narrow parts of your initial question you will get more meaningful results. Here is an example of how you can break down a general question into it's narrower concepts.
I am not a bee expert, so there are multiple places I can look for answers. If I choose AccessScience (because bees are related to a science) and type in bees disappearing, I find this article titled "Colony Collapse Disorder"
From this article, I can answer some questions I didn't even know I had.
| General Term | What I didn't know before | Better Choice |
|---|---|---|
| bees | What kind of bees? | adult honeybees |
| disappearing | Is there a term scientists use for this? | "Colony Collapse Disorder" |
| why | What explanations exist? | pesticides |
From here I can adjust my original question about why bees are disappearing (the result) to identify a cause and use more narrow language.
Example that is too broad: Charter Schools.
Example that is too narrow: Charter school attendance by the children of Pennsylvania state senators.
Example that is just right: The differences between how republican and democratic state senators vote on charter school laws.
