Finding a Topic & Search Tips
Finding a Topic
If you need to select a topic or find suitable search terms for you topic, follow these suggested steps:
- Read your assignment description carefully
- Think about your subject(s) and how they relate to the assignment. What career are you planning to pursue and how is it related to your research assignment?
- Browse or scan current issues of magazines related to the topic (in the library or online)
Keywords/Search Terms
Searching with keywords is common to both library article databases and web search engines.
Search with only the important (key)words about your topic or question (don’t use sentences)
Example:
Instead of “How is technology being used in the health sciences?”
medicine + computers
“health sciences” + “information technology”
What are you looking for and what words might the author of an article use?
Synonyms as Search Terms
Use a thesaurus or dictionary
Search the subject file of a library article database (i.e. go to
Aademic
Search Complete and click on Subject Terms)
Read a short article from a magazine or encyclopedia for ideas
Look in your textbook or assignment description
Speak with your instructor or a librarian (Ask
a Librarian)
Combining Search Terms with AND, OR, NOT
AND tells the search that all entered keywords must be included in the resulting articles
technology AND workforce
OR tells the search that either keywords around the OR can be included in the resulting articles
Computers OR technology
NOT tells that search that you want to leave out articles that include a particular keyword
Computers AND NOT Macintosh
Phrases as Search Terms - Quotation Marks
If you are looking for a phrase in your search, enclose the words in quotation marks
“United States” AND “information technology”
Note: some search engines or databases may not require the use of “quotation marks”
Search Basics ~ * ? $
Using symbols like * ? $, called “truncation”, in a search term will allow you to
Get alternative spellings of a word, even a fragment.
Get all possible endings of a word.
Get both the singular and plural forms of the word.
Common truncation symbols ? * $
technolog* = technology, technological
comput* = compute, computer, computers, computation, computing, computerize
More Tips
Search more than one information resource or database
Read carefully the search results that you are choosing from
Write down the search terms you plan to use and the sources you plan to use before you start
Ask for Help if you need it….
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