Identify Search Terms

Whether you know your exact focus or research question or you are just starting out with a general topic, start your searches in library databases with keywords that capture your initial idea. Add new key words as you research and learn.  

Tips to Strategize Keywords

• Keep it simple. Use only key words, rather than complicated phrases or natural language.
• Use AND to connect and focus your key words:
  • Ex: AI AND "science fiction" instead of "science fiction that is about AI"
• Use OR to search for synonyms and related words. OR gets you more.
  • Ex: "time machine" OR "time travel"
• Use OR to include broad or narrow terms in a search.
  • Ex: social media OR tik tok
• Use truncation to capture forms of a root term. 
  • Ex: represent* = represent, representation
• Put exact phrases in quotation marks to keep the words as a search phrase. Do not use quotation marks if you want to be more flexible.
  • Ex: surveillance technology
• Look for specialized terminology of the field - and add useful words to your keyword list.

Keep a list of Subject Terms and try searching with them instead of or along with keywords.

Example:

• science fiction, American
• science fiction -- History and criticism

Tip: Think strategically about your topic. Look for ideas about:

• the work itself
• the larger work if you are writing an interpretation of a short story or poem
• the author's work as a whole
• a theme 
• a genre

Download the handout below to brainstorm keywords.