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HLTH 235: Food Systems

Using Omni to Find Articles

Omni includes content from the various research databases to which QUL subscribes but not everything is included.

When searching Omni for articles:

  • Apply the same search strategies you used for finding books.
  • Use the filters located along the left-hand side of the search screen to modify or refine your results. 
  • Apply the filter limit to Peer-reviewed Journals and Articles.

When Should I Use Subject-Specific Databases?

Omni includes content from the various research databases to which Queen's University Library subscribes but not everything is included. If you are looking for information on a very specific topic, or a topic that is subject specific, it is recommended that you search databases that specialize in that subject area for more thorough results.

A link to database search is available from the library homepage or consult the relevant library research guide to determine the recommended databases in your discipline.

Finding Articles

Use Omni to search for journal articles. Omni includes content from the various research databases to which Queen's Library subscribes but not everything is included. If you are looking for information on a very specific topic, or a topic that is subject specific, it is recommended that you search databases that specialize in that subject area for more thorough results. 

Basic Search

Enter one or more of your topic keywords into the Omni search box and then click the search button. 

Basic search supports the use of Boolean operators: AND, OR or NOT, and they must be entered in uppercase. For example:

  • Covid-19 AND "food security"
  • agroecology OR agri-environmental

To search for a specific phrase, type quotation marks around the phrase.  For example: "food systems"

Truncation is the process of adding an asterisk '*' to the end of a root word to get different variations on the word. For example: environment* for environments, environmental

Narrow or refine your search by adding other terms using AND. For example: Covid-19 AND "food security" AND Africa

Broaden your search results by using OR between similar terms. For example: (agroecology OR agri-environmental) 

Use brackets to group terms. When you have more than on Boolean operator in a search statement, it is necessary to separate them with brackets. Operators enclosed in the brackets are performed first followed by the operators outside of the brackets. For example: (agroecology OR agri-environmental) AND "food systems"

*Please note that the default search in Omni includes the holdings of Queen's University Library AND the physical holdings of our Omni partner libraries in Ontario.

Advanced Search

Use the Advanced Search option for more precise searching. Using the drop-down options within the Advanced Search screen you can limit your search to specific fields and/or a combination of fields (Author, Title, Subject, Call number). You can also specify that your search words must be contained in the search field ("contains", "starts with" or "is (exact)."  

Modify Your Results

You can Modify your search results by using the filters on the left side of the screen. You can refine your search by Availability.  For example, limit your search to only Peer-reviewed Journals.

You can also modify your results by Resource Type. For example, limit your search to Articles.