 Hi, I'm Nate. And I'm Sherry. And we're going to tell you the story of the littlest shrimp. If you want to find out something, you'd probably begin with Google. We all do that, and it can be really useful. But there are other oceans to fish, other deep trenches to trawl. If you need more precise information from experts, you will need to search in the library databases, too. The articles in the library's databases come from college-level sources that you don't usually find free on Google. You can search most of them all at once by starting with the library's homepage search box, Articles Plus. But even using Articles Plus can be like trolling with a big scooper. Using a huge net. Grabbing all the muck at the bottom of the ocean. The wonderful thing is it brings you all this stuff. And the bad thing is it brings you all this stuff. Somehow we need to tame this monster. Luckily, Articles Plus lets me do this, giving me many tools. Lifeboats, poles, and boxes to make it easier. On our webpage, notice the five green tabs. I want to use Articles Plus, the first tab. First, I need to remember the no-phrase rule. Usually this gets me nothing or a very small set. Use instead the best word or two to describe the main idea. Searching with words instead of phrases leaves us with a list of things that are more likely to be on target. Some books, some articles. Adding a star here allows any form of the word starting with environment to come up in my search. Environmental or environmentally, for example. But it also usually gives us way too much stuff. Too many swordfish, catfish, codfish. When what we want, remember, is shrimp. Good shrimp, large, well-formed, edible shrimp. So I use the limiters Articles Plus provides to reduce the list and get to more precise and useful articles. I can limit by date. What's current enough for my topic? Let's say 2005. Another handy-limiter here is scholarly, meaning publications that are written for a college audience. That's us. This throws out some of the boots and tires. This might have been good for other topics or other purposes, but for us, for now, these aren't the articles we want. Like a well-stocked tackle box, there are many more ways to narrow a list of results in Articles Plus. Material type, subject words, geography. Just to name a few. Of course, the best fishermen use every available tool to get the best results. That'll throw out some more old shoes. And plastic bottles. My net is getting smaller. And smaller. Now I have a lovely little list. If I use all these tools, it's like having a single line in the water with a hook that catches only shrimp. And now, where is my article? Usually it's just a click away. See the links that say PDF full text or HTML full text. Sometimes it doesn't say full text. In that case, click Find it with link source. Two or three clicks more will usually get you your article. And for each article now, I have to make sure it's the kind of shrimp I want to bother to carry home. I examine each closely for defects. Signs of age, spots, missing fins. Is everything just right? Does it pass the crap test? Is it current? Reliable? What is its purpose? I examine the article closely to make my judgment. The crap test is a useful set of criteria to judge any information you come across. So is everything just right? Good. Job well done. Shrimp on the Barbie for supper tonight. Mmm. If you have any trouble, you should ask your ship's captain. I mean librarian because that's what we do. We lead people to the best fishing spots and help them with the right bait and lines and nets. Because we hate to leave you fighting a Leviathan when all you need are shrimp. The end.