Keywords are search terms related to your topic.

You use keywords to search library tools or the web. Keywords are search terms that describe the specific concepts or issues of your assignment theme and/or topic. Here are a few tips about using keywords:

• Keywords can be both broad and specific. Broad, or general, keywords, will help you put your topic in context and get you broad overviews of your topic. Narrower, or more specific, keywords will find you info more precisely related to your focused topic. Start broad and then narrow. Examples: Disability vs PTSD or Mental Disorders vs Anxiety.

• Put phrases in quotes: "gender roles." Experiment with using phrases and multiple keywords: "veterans with disabilities" returns different results than "disabled veterans" and it returns more specific and fewer results than veterans AND disabilities.

• Keywords have synonyms and related terms: for example, for mental illness use mental health or mental disorders. Also,  try specific disorders, such as bipolar disorder, genderal anxiety disorder or ptsd.

  Truncate: Use the root form of a work plus an asterix * to search multiple forms of a word: disab* searches for disabled and disability.

• Combine keywords with Boolean operators "AND" and "OR" to get more relevant results. Use "AND" to combine terms to focus your search (PTSD AND combat); use "OR" to combine terms and broaden your search (men OR masculinity).

• Keep track of the keywords you find in your reference and other sources!

• Tip: Look for suggested keywords at the ends of reference articles, in the "Related Terms," "Cross-References" and "See Also" sections.