Comprehensive subject coverage with 75+ easy-to-navigate Sourcebooks on specific health disorders and diseases in the Health Reference Series Collection.
Collection of encyclopedias, dictionaries and topical content covering a variety of subject areas.
Articles from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and reference sources from all subject areas. Includes quotations, maps, and illustrations.
Combined searchable encyclopedia sets Magills Medical Guide, 8th ed. and Addictions & Substance Abuse (2018).
Articles from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference sources from all subject areas. Includes images, audio pronunciation files, maps, and data tables.
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: North American Tree Squirrels.
Example that is too narrow: Squirrel response to student presence on the community college campus in North America.
Example that is just right: Different responses to human presence among rural and urban squirrels.
