Key Word Search Strategies
Once you have your topic, it's time to find resources on the subject. This process may be unfamiliar to you, or you may have not done enough searching to feel really confident finding resources.
Most databases share similar structures and common features. So, once you understand how to use one database, those skills should apply to other databases as well. Here are some strategies to help make your keyword searches more effective and productive:
- Identify your main ideas.
- The key is to break your topic into main concepts or subjects.
- Long phrases will just confuse the database. Instead, select essential terms that indicate your main point.
- Brainstorm your Keywords
- Keywords are the terms you will use to execute your search in the database.
- Databases use an article's abstract to match your keywords, which means the author's word choice affects your search.
- Finding synonyms (or antonyms) to your initial search terms can broaden the number of articles you may find, as can alternate spellings, or even unpacking abbreviations. For instance:
- A cell phone might also be a smart phone, a cellular phone, a mobile phone, or a mobile device.
- Or British spellings for words like flavour versus flavor, or catalogue versus catalog might yield more results.
- Searching for WHO might yield articles about the British rock band; whereas Elongating WHO to World Health Organization will yield very different results.
- Like any computer program, databases can only find matches for what you input, so be ready to try different terms.
- Select a database.
- Oakton Community College Library offers both general research databases like Academic EBSCO, as well as subject oriented databases.
- For instance, education databases in Oakton's catalog can be found here. Selecting databases that are tuned into your topic is always helpful.
- Oakton Community College Library offers both general research databases like Academic EBSCO, as well as subject oriented databases.
- Connect your keywords.
- The way you connect your keywords often alters the outcome of your search.
- Databases use Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT to put keywords together.
- The default for many databases is AND, which only finds articles that contain all your selected keywords.
- The way you connect your keywords often alters the outcome of your search.
- Explore the database.
- In your initial searches, try several of your keywords to see what yields the best results.
- Sort through your results.
- Most often, a database will ask you to click through a link to view the abstract of an article. An abstract provides a short summary you can review to check an article's applicability.
- Identify relevant articles.
- Look for compatible subject headings.
- Most databases will assign subject headings to articles. If an article is appropriate to your topic, using its subject headings to search may yield more fruitful results.
- If at first you don't succeed, REVISE!
- If your initial searches don't give you quality results, revise your search terms and try again.
- Begin with broader terms and narrow using more specific terms as you go, rather than begin narrowly.