ABSTRACT
Not so long ago, in order to do a literature search one had to go to a brick and mortar library, consult with a reference librarian, shuffle through a myriad of index cards, navigate mazes of bookshelves, and painstakingly read through the volumes of texts, all in hopes that the article, which originally seemed like a relevant find, would ultimately be worth all the trouble. Thankfully, this process has been simplified, though not completely eliminated, by the advent of computers and the Internet. Reference librarians are still an excellent source of advice, and consulting with one is always a good idea as you’re making your first steps in a literature search. Many libraries and publishing houses are working toward digitizing their content, but some texts are still only accessible in physical form. So in some cases, you may end up needing to obtain a physical copy of a given paper. While what follows will describe how to search electronic databases, this process is also helpful for locating earlier publications that have not been converted into digital format but may still be of interest for your project.
